Editor's note: We encourage guest posts and op-eds from any member of the New York wine community. We thought that Morten's story so strongly exemplified the power wine can have on our lives that it would make for a lovely guest post.
By Morten Hallgren, Owner and Winemaker, Ravine Wine Cellars
Back in 1990 while a graduate student in Boston, I purchased two magnums of Chateau Palmer 1981 (AOC Margaux). One bottle I put in my wine cellar for future consumption. The other bottle I gave as a birthday present to my friend, Hernan, from Mexico City.
Months later, a thief broke into my wine cellar and removed, among other bottles, the magnum of Palmer. After hearing this, Hernan vowed we would share the other magnum at a later date.
Years pass, I go through Florida, France, Texas and North Carolina to arrive here in the Finger Lakes. Hernan finishes up his Ph.D in physics in Boston, spends two years as a post-doc in Cambridge, England. We meet up in France while he's in Cambridge, but otherwise we lose touch. Hernan later returns to Cuernavaca, Mexico where he is now a professor in theoretical physics.
Wednesday, after the wine tasting at the Rothmann Steakhouse in NYC, my wife Lisa and I meet up with Hernan and wife (16 years and 5 kids between us later).
And then Friday night, Hernan pulls out the Palmer magnum at our house! This bottle, despite the travels and difficult storage conditions in Mexico, tasted beautiful and that is only referrring to the wine!
The long cork was down to its last 1/4 inch of seal, as most of the cork is more or less disintegrated. After some difficulties, we manage to get all of the cork out and enjoy the bottle over a nice, long meal.
I find this a pretty amazing case of perseverance!
Great story...and a real testament to the power of wine to bring people together.
Posted by: Scott | April 06, 2010 at 09:05 AM
Scott - That's exactly what I thought. Wine is unique in its ability to transform into something more meaningful in certain circumstances. If you and I had opened that magnum of '81 Palmer, we likely would have been thrilled to enjoy a gracefully aging Bordeaux. But for Morten and Hernan, the bottle meant something much stronger.
Posted by: Evan Dawson | April 06, 2010 at 09:08 AM