Tonight I drank a chardonnay that was 30 years old, a 1978 from Spring Mountain in Napa. It surprisingly was kind of gross. Apparently aging only applies to certain types of wines, mainly reds. The teacher said whites age best in two to three years, and this one was decidedly over the hill. But it was pretty awesome to have the opportunity. I'm not sure how much it would cost, but a 1978 cabernet from the same vineyard is $75 (love me some google).
We also tried some chardonnay (see the theme?) from Rombauer. That one was delicious. (Side note: My favorite chardonnay ever is the 2005 from Edna Valley.) It wasn't super acidic, which is when it makes you pucker or the sides of your mouth tingle. It smelled and tasted like butter. (At first I thought toast, but when someone else said butter, that made more sense.) That bottle was $30, but another "guess which one this tastes like" wine from Watts was very similar. Watts winery, not the rioting venue. (Hmm ... urban vineyard. Interesting idea.) That one was $14, so probably more likely to end up on my dinner table.
Something else we learned was that it only costs about $5 to make a bottle of wine. It breaks down about like this:
Grapes: $1/lb.
French oak barrel: $1.13 per use ($1,000 each, with about 885 uses)
Bottle: $2.54
Label/cork/packaging: $1.53
Isn't that crazy? I understand marketing and overhead factor in big time, but it makes me feel more secure about my purchase of bargain-barrel specials. It's like designer clothes - the markup is mostly associated with the name, not the quality. My Target jeans have lasted just as long as my Sevens.
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