Wednesdays really seem to be a bit of a mixed bag lately. I don’t know, maybe it’s that lingering heat. Today it got up to 90F. Really tired of this.Last week or so, I’ve seen a pageant of young Italians working the market. Not
exactly a cat walk, but they have been young, the young women of Italy. They are the worker bees. And some of their comments have been interesting. My friend, David, over at Italian Insight, seems to think they are exaggerating when they speak to me of the new poor Italy. I don’t know. I know even some of the folks over there with money are acting like the sky is falling, money is tight. My concern is, if the young people of Italy feel they have no 
opportunities in the wine field, they will go to on other endeavors. It is happening here. Unless you get your Master Sommelier or Master of Wine, so many of the young here seem to think they will have little trajectory for the career path. I’d like to tell them about a master or two I’ve known in the past. Even if you make it “big”, you still face many of the same problems the rest of us do. It’s the human condition. Along the way it got me to thinking if I have regrets at this point in the game. Ok, it’s been 30 years now, chopping in the woodshed of the wine trade. I’ve seen colleagues make great success, and I’ve known some of them to die alone in their bathtubs, lying there for days before they were discovered. It can be a crapshoot, there are no guarantees.
Last week with one of the young ones, we opened up the last of my case of 1982
Le Pergole Torte. I have tasted this wine for 20 years and the other night was a fond farewell to a wine that has gone through a stretch of time with me. Since then my son has grown up, my wife has passed on. Friends have departed and family members have been born. Time has ripened us all.The wine was ready to drink, gone was the youthful power and fire of the earlier years, the assertiveness of the Sangiovese in purezza. The wine was a gentle, pensive, meditation at 24 years. Its life was staring at the sunset now. Delicate, light, still assertive but with a graceful note. A wine I shall never forget. Thank you Signore Manetti, wherever you are.
Well, in thinking about the regrets, I’m going to ask you readers, all 10 of you, about this. Which wines do you regret not tasting? Was it the 1961 Lafite or the 1927 Cockburns Vintage Port? Was it a 1964 Brunello from Costanti or a 1964 Cabernet from Louis Martini? What are your thoughts?
My regrets for wines not tasted yet, I have a few. They are:*1931 Quinta do Noval Nacional
*1947 Chateau Cheval Blanc
*1951 Beaulieu Vineyards George de Latour Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
*1951 Penfolds Grange
*1961 Gaja Barbaresco
*1961 Chateau Latour
*I’d love to taste something from the 1800’s from Bordeaux.
*Also would love to taste a really old Tokaji Essencia.
*A vertical of Vega Sicilia Unico from the mid 1950’s to the late 1960’s would be wonderful.
*I’d love to go into that old cellar of Bugari in San Benedetto del Tronto and taste all the Italians down there from the 1930’s and 1940’s. Barolo’s, Vino Nobile’s, Taurasi’s, Aglianico’s, Etna Rosso’s...
*I’d love to taste some of those old Marsala wines that Marco De Bartoli has in his cellar in Sicily, some from the 1800’s, real Sicilian history.Some blogs lately have been writing about foods they must have before they die.
This is the wine lovers version. Let’s hear from you!
What wines are you absolutely not wanting to miss out on, before the curtain is pulled ?
