WTN: 1999 Conn Creek Merlot Limited Release

[Bob Hower]

Value is when one of your local wine sellers calls you and says something like "I bought this wine on a close-out and I think you should try it." Relationships matter. That is how I came to own 2 bottles of this wine for the princely sum of $13 each. I opened the second and last one tonight, for a dinner of hand made and personally doctored burgers made from local grass fed beef, fingerling potatoes and a salad of the first spring local greens. The first bottle I liked, but this one was really wonderful. The first one seemed initially to be over the hill, with a slightly vinegary first sip which then transformed into something good. It had a lot of dark sediment in the bottom of the bottle. This one was interesting and good from the start and had no sediment at all. On the nose deep rich red fruit, but nicely restrained, subtle, complex; to the eye, a rich deep maroon with a lighter rim but no bricking at all; on the palate very smooth (especially after an hour or so of breathing) and lush, with plum and red fruit, vanilla, caramel, spices, still plenty of biting satisfying tannic mouth puckering. How often can you get a $13 bottle of 10 year old wine, let alone one this good? Sure there are close-out bin finds, Costco deals and the like, but the best value comes from knowing a local merchant who knows your tastes and looks out for you because you bring him your business.

[MichaelB]

Great note, Bob, and a great deal, too. We’ve had Conn Creek Anthology, ’04 I think, and loved it. But it was $45 a bottle!

Since where I live is so isolated, I have to order wines from K&L and other west coast places that can store whatever we buy until winter shipping season, so I envy your being able to form a relationship with a local seller.

[Jenise]

I've been seeing a lot of Conn Creek on the secondary market--wonder if the winery has sold or something? I just bought three magnums of their top of the line 'Eloge' blend last week for $40 each (the winery's price on the '05 was $179)--we do a lot of entertaining and these wines will be closer to their tastes than the French wines I love best, and I won't mind them either!

But yeah, hurray for your retailer to be smart enough to both create sales for himself AND take special care of good customers--you both win.