After millions of years waiting on tables I slowly weaned myself from restaurants by teaching hotel/restaurant management at a little college in San Francisco, and supplemented that meager income working in the teeniest wine shop on the planet.  It was, literally, under the stairs at the St. Francis Hotel.  We specialized in older vintage Napa and Sonoma wines.  The majority of the reds were  1985 and 1986 Cabernet Sauvignons for under $20 a bottle – and this was in the early to mid 1990s.  I kid you not.   The whites, unfortunately, were mostly from 1985 and 1986 as well.

 
Have you ever had a (domestic) chardonnay older than, say, five years or so?  They turn an amazing, glowing shade of rich gold and lose their fruit to become… undrinkable, in my opinion.  My boss used to sniff at me and say that appreciating these older chards was an “acquired taste.”  Methinks he just wanted to unload this old stuff on some poor suckers from out of town.  Frankly I hope I never do acquire a taste for that stuff since it tasted like aspirin.  (more…)