The Adventure of the 1975 Chateau Boyd-Cantenac
By Tim Sinniger
Date: Tuesday, August 22, 2006 - Where: A parking lot in Downtown Bend
If you are wine club founder Kevin, everything!
Carolyn and I were on our way to Vino Mercato last Tuesday to attend Wine Club when we fielded a cryptic phone call from Kevin. He asked us where we were and when we would get to Vino. Telling him we would be there in just a few minutes he said don't go inside and to meet him in the parking lot. It seemed a little strange since we have gone to wine club for almost three years now and never had something like this come up. A little intrigue, a little adventure.
We ended up having to park on a side street since downtown Bend has become such a popular destination for nightlife. The days of pulling up right in front of the establishment you are visiting are long gone. We made our way to the parking lot and sure enough the same full lot we had been through twice just minutes earlier had netted Kevin a spot just a few minutes later. Timing is everything!
As we approached Kevin's truck he was sitting in the front seat. When he saw us he smiled and hoisted a magnum of 1975 Chateau Boyd-Cantenac (grand cru class, Margaux). Apparently Kevin's neighbors Randy and Lance had been enjoying this magnum with friends and family and bequeathed the rest to Kevin before he left for wine club. Now there was not much left as Kevin pulled out the paper cups, but we were excited and giddy as he poured us all a taste of this 31 year old claret.
First let me say there was quite a bit of sediment as you would expect in a wine this old, but we were not dissuaded in our quest for mature Bordeaux. It was absolutely lovely! It was lean and stylish with a hint of tar left on the finish. Who would have thought that 31 year old wine would be still be this good!
So now we can say we enjoyed 31 year old claret from magnum in a parking lot and from paper cups. Our most sincere thanks to Lance, Randy and Kevin for making The Adventure of the 1975 Boyd-Cantenac possible.
