# Acquired Free Bottle of Bryant Family 2004 Cabernet Sauvginon



## whomewhat (Nov 11, 2006)

As I posted elsewhere recently, my wife works at the Coeur D'Alene Resort and Golf Course where she is able to get items left behind by patrons, after 30 days have passed. Today she brought home a 750ml bottle of California Bryant Family 2004 Cabernet Sauvginon, if that means anything.

Now, since I do not drink alcohol of any kind, I really know nothing about wine quality or actual taste. My wife was told, however, that this is a very good bottle of wine. I do use wine regularly in my cooking and adhere to the belief that it is important to use high quality wines when cooking, not "cooking wine," since after cooking out the alcohol all you are left with is the flavor. Since I don't drink, I generally use the rule that a more expensive wine is probably a better wine since I have no other way to measure, as dumb as that might be.

I have never utilized Cabernet Sauvginon in any of my recipes and was wondering what type of dishes this type of wine would go well with? I am quite the good cook so I want to use this for a special dish since it is supposed to be such a high quality wine. Any recommendations would be appreciated.


----------



## Acacian (Jul 10, 2007)

Is this it???

Special recipe indeed!


----------



## whomewhat (Nov 11, 2006)

Well, the link you provided sure looks like the bottle and the description is correct, but it states a price of $565?!  Is that actually possible for a bottle of wine or did I misunderstand that link and that is the price for a case? That can't be right, I mean, it is from 2004, not 1804! :crazy:


----------



## Acacian (Jul 10, 2007)

At first, I thought it was for a case too...

But no, that's per bottle:
https://dat.erobertparker.com/newse...ine=Bryant+Family+Vineyard+Cabernet+Sauvignon

:aportnoy:


----------



## Acacian (Jul 10, 2007)

More:

"The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon appears to be the most prodigious Bryant Family offering since the monumental 1997. Moreover, there are 700 cases. Like all of its predecessors, it is composed of 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the estate's hillside vineyards overlooking Lake Hennessy. A gorgeous perfume of white flowers, blueberries, blackberries, tar, and espresso roast is followed by a full-bodied, concentrated, spectacularly layered and nuanced wine revealing a decidedly chocolaty nose, and silky, but high levels of tannin. This is one of the candidates for wine of the vintage in 2004. *It should age gracefully for two decades.*"

*$499.99 per bottle*


----------



## whomewhat (Nov 11, 2006)

Acacian said:


> More:
> 
> "The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon appears to be the most prodigious Bryant Family offering since the monumental 1997. Moreover, there are 700 cases. Like all of its predecessors, it is composed of 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the estate's hillside vineyards overlooking Lake Hennessy. A gorgeous perfume of white flowers, blueberries, blackberries, tar, and espresso roast is followed by a full-bodied, concentrated, spectacularly layered and nuanced wine revealing a decidedly chocolaty nose, and silky, but high levels of tannin. This is one of the candidates for wine of the vintage in 2004. *It should age gracefully for two decades.*"
> 
> *$499.99 per bottle*


I have to say, the description does not mean a whole lot to me because I do not drink, however, the "should age gracefully for two decades" part sounds like it would be worth more in 20 years? I am just flabbergasted that anyone would spend this much money on a single bottle of wine, I mean, you drink it and it is gone! You could get a decent pair of shoes for the price of that bottle and the shoes would last pretty much forever if you take care of them, not to mention you get to wear them over and over. Something just does not seem right to my, admittedly, untrained pallet.


----------



## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

Wine Spectator does not have a tasting note yet for the 2004 but here is the prior year:



Selling for $343 a bottle.

Good score wmw.


----------



## emorel98 (Oct 9, 2005)

what happens if someone comes in on the 31st day and wants their rightfully owned stuff back?


----------



## jbmcb (Sep 7, 2005)

I guess I don't understand wine pricing. I bought a magnum of '77 vintage Dows for less than half the 04 cab, and it's considered one of the best bottles of port available. There isn't a whole lot of port floating around, but almost every vinter in Sonoma makes a Cabernet. If it were a '96 and showing excellent signs of aging, I could understand, but isn't 3 years a bit premature for the premium price?


----------



## egadfly (Nov 10, 2006)

whomewhat said:


> I have never utilized Cabernet Sauvginon in any of my recipes and was wondering what type of dishes this type of wine would go well with? I am quite the good cook so I want to use this for a special dish since it is supposed to be such a high quality wine. Any recommendations would be appreciated.


Whomewhat:

As the others have noted, this is -- or at least has the potential to be -- an _outstanding_ bottle of wine. In my opinion, it would be a waste to use as a cooking wine, as all of its nuance will be lost.

If there is a hospital or other charity with which you have some connection, I suggest you consider donating the bottle to be used in a silent auction or other fundraiser: the organization will benefit from your generosity; the winner of the auction will enjoy an excellent bottle of wine; and you can enjoy the gratification of having done something good at no cost to yourself.

Alternatively, you can send the bottle to me.

Cheers,

EGF


----------



## Andy (Aug 25, 2002)

egadfly said:


> Whomewhat:
> 
> As the others have noted, this is -- or at least has the potential to be -- an _outstanding_ bottle of wine. In my opinion, it would be a waste to use as a cooking wine, as all of its nuance will be lost.
> 
> ...


 Or you can sent the bottle to the owner of this website in deep appreciation for the site. egadfly, no problem I have two straws!! :icon_smile_big:


----------



## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

jbmcb said:


> I guess I don't understand wine pricing. I bought a magnum of '77 vintage Dows for less than half the 04 cab, and it's considered one of the best bottles of port available. There isn't a whole lot of port floating around, but almost every vinter in Sonoma makes a Cabernet. If it were a '96 and showing excellent signs of aging, I could understand, but isn't 3 years a bit premature for the premium price?


It probably has much to do with market demand too. Port is not "trendy", Cali cabs have been and continue to be very trendy, and have a huge market vs. true vintage port's must smaller US market. Also, cabs are much more accessible to most pallets.

When did you get that magnum? I bought a magnum of the '77 Dows just 2-3 weeks ago. I paid about $235 with very secure provenance. Did yours come in a wooden "Millenium" case too?


----------



## jbmcb (Sep 7, 2005)

Wayfarer said:


> When did you get that magnum? I bought a magnum of the '77 Dows just 2-3 weeks ago. I paid about $235 with very secure provenance. Did yours come in a wooden "Millenium" case too?


I picked it up from a local retailer for just a bit less than what you paid. It didn't come with a box, but from the looks of the bottle it's been on a shelf for a LONG time. The retailer carries a HUGE selection of wine, along with every other kind of alcoholic beverage imaginable, but they specialize in wines. I trust most anything I buy there, I imagine the owner bought a crate of the stuff in Europe for himself, kept a few and put the rest up for sale.


----------



## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

jbmcb said:


> I picked it up from a local retailer for just a bit less than what you paid. It didn't come with a box, but from the looks of the bottle it's been on a shelf for a LONG time. The retailer carries a HUGE selection of wine, along with every other kind of alcoholic beverage imaginable, but they specialize in wines. I trust most anything I buy there, I imagine the owner bought a crate of the stuff in Europe for himself, kept a few and put the rest up for sale.


Must be the extra for my little box and to keep in cool in Tucson  What part of Michigan is your wine store? I used to go to one back in the 80's but cannot think of the name, out in maybe Rochester or Canton. It was one of the few places at the time with wine storage and I can remember people's lockers having name plaques on them, like the then Gov, some local DJ who's name I cannot remember (the guy that was on that AM channel forever), etc.


----------



## jbmcb (Sep 7, 2005)

Wayfarer said:


> Must be the extra for my little box and to keep in cool in Tucson  What part of Michigan is your wine store? I used to go to one back in the 80's but cannot think of the name, out in maybe Rochester or Canton. It was one of the few places at the time with wine storage and I can remember people's lockers having name plaques on them, like the then Gov, some local DJ who's name I cannot remember (the guy that was on that AM channel forever), etc.


It's Champagne's in Warren, right across the street from the GM technical center, which is convenient since my wife works there 

The place you are thinking of is probably in Rochester, since Canton at the time was in the stix. Could it have been the Red Wagon Shoppe? The AM guy was probably J.P. McCarthy, who passed away in the early 90's.


----------



## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

jbmcb said:


> It's Champagne's in Warren, right across the street from the GM technical center, which is convenient since my wife works there
> 
> The place you are thinking of is probably in Rochester, since Canton at the time was in the stix. Could it have been the Red Wagon Shoppe? The AM guy was probably J.P. McCarthy, who passed away in the early 90's.


Ah, thanks, I might head out there when I'm in the area in September. Nope, it was not J.P. I remember him on 790, my mother used to listen to him. Dick something maybe? KCLW?


----------



## jbmcb (Sep 7, 2005)

Wayfarer;600683 Dick something maybe? KCLW?[/quote said:


> Dick Purtain! I think he's been broadcasting since morse code


----------



## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

jbmcb said:


> Dick Purtain! I think he's been broadcasting since morse code


That's him!

Back to the OP, let us know what happens. As you can tell, there are certainly some people that like wine here


----------



## Concordia (Sep 30, 2004)

Charitable donations are an excellent way to dispose of the problem. I think you don't need ironclad appraisals for anything up to $500, so you could get a nice write-off.

As another note, Cabernet Sauvignon tends not to be terribly useful for cooking-- it has a lot of tannin, and its basic flavor doesn't always go well with the sorts of stuff one would normally throw into a stew or a deglazing. Pinor Noir or Merlot are likelier choices for reds, unoaked chardonnay or riesling for whites. And while good wine makes a better sauce, all else equal, you do get diminishing returns.


----------



## whomewhat (Nov 11, 2006)

emorel98 said:


> what happens if someone comes in on the 31st day and wants their rightfully owned stuff back?


I do not make the rules for the resort, but I imagine they have a written contract with their patrons that alerts them to the 30-day hold for items afterwhich it becomes the property of the resort. This is fairly standard, as I am sure you know, for many businesses, as they are not required to store items in perpetuity, nor could they.

As to "rightfully owned stuff," again, I imagine after giving someone 30 days to get it, and they don't, they forfeit their "right" legally. That said, I cannot imagine that the resort owner, one of the wealthiest people in the State of Idaho, would want to upset some of his more frequent patrons and he could provide a replacement bottle, in this instance. In fact, I am told that Beverlys, the resort crown jewel restaurant, boasts a wine cellar valued at several million dollars so I am sure they have something nice there.

The resort could just turn over all of the items to a charity themeselves, or even auction them off, I suppose, but I think it rather nice of them to give them to their employees at no cost to them. In the end, it is a common policy of most businesses to hold items for a certain period of time and then to dispose of those items how they choose. The method the resort has chosen rewards the employees. If a problem arises, well, it is the problem of the resort, not my wife.

One final note on this subject. Many of the patrons leave tips for the workers at the resort and sometimes those tips are gifts, not money. When a note is not left or it is not verbally communicated by the patron that it is a gift, the resort, in an abundance of caution, holds the item for 30-days, and only then turns it over to the worker. Given the stated value of this wine, as difficult as it is for me to believe, I cannot imagine someone forgetting something this valuable, and if they did, not realizing it within a few days and then calling for it. After this much time, I think it is safe to assume that the resort patron meant for it to be left. For all any of us knows, the bottle could have been received as a gift by the person who left it behind and, like me, they do not drink, or they may have even been the owner of the winery that makes it. Bottom line, all the rules were followed and my wife deserves everything she gets for as hard as she works.


----------



## whomewhat (Nov 11, 2006)

egadfly said:


> As the others have noted, this is -- or at least has the potential to be -- an _outstanding_ bottle of wine. In my opinion, it would be a waste to use as a cooking wine, as all of its nuance will be lost.


I did get the definite impression that using this bottle for cooking would be the wrong course of action. Although my charitable contributions are my own business and not a topic of discussion, the truth is that the recipient of all of my charity, my church, would have no use for a bottle of wine.

So, given the advice here, I realized that this needed to go to someone who would drink it, as opposed to alcohol as I am. I owe a friend of mine my life and he happens to enjoy drinking. Although he is mostly a beer kind of guy, I have noticed that he drinks wine with his dinner and does have several bottles of wine in his apartment, although I suspect nothing quite this costly. It has now been shipped to him for his enjoyment.

That said, in the future, should I come across more expensive non-drinkable bottles of wine, I am going to list them here and provide them to whoever requests it first, with Andy having the right of first refusal until such time as he chooses a bottle for himself, as gratitude for the use of this site. The second right of refusal will go to Alex Kabbaz for the quiet acts of kindness he has performed for me that are not publicized here. I also think Mr. Wayfarer has earned a bottle, too, but after all of that, the rest goes to whoever wants it.

In light of the above, I also received a bottle today of California Cabernet Sauvignon that says "Lake Coeur D' Alene" on it and states that is was vinted and bottled by Healdsburg Vineyards of Manteca, California. I know nothing about this bottle, either, other than the opinion stated earlier that Cabernet is not good for cooking, so according to the rules stated above it is up for grabs, if it is worthy of such.

https://img158.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc03739editedfx9.jpg​


----------



## whomewhat (Nov 11, 2006)

Someone posted the following statement elsewhere:

"I can't wait *until the wife's employer discovers this scam*. It is bad enough for a person to be licking his chops in advance of the 30 day mark, especially for items left behind at a resort. But posting online each and every ... the words tasteless and *stupid compete for pecking order*."

Obviously, this person is an expert on stupid since they have clearly not read or understood the thread, which is: it is the policy of the employer to hold the items for 30 days and then give them to the employees.

Thus, the employer has already discovered the "scam," indeed, they are the creators of the "scam." Then again, maybe you just don't believe it, which is another issue altogether. You would be sorely wrong to believe such, but I suppose it is your right to be ignorant if you want.

As I also posted regarding this subject, I did not wish for my wife to take a job. She did so for her own reasons and I accept that. As the members that regularly post here know, I am 48 years old, retired, and live quite comfortably, thank you very much. I do not need or want her income. The items she brings home provide some fun and if you cannot understand that then your life must be truly sad and pathetic.

What you do not realize when you make remarks such as this, however, probably because your intellectual capacity is only slightly higher than the animal you compared me to, is that you are questioning the integrity and honesty of my wife. You can attack me all you want, but you are not qualified to mention my wife much less question her character. My wife is not even aware that scum like you exist and she is certainly unable to comprehend why a loathesome creature like you would want to attack her, which you did, even if you are too stupid to realize that.

Finally, in an effort to bolster your already inane comments, you did a little search here at AAAC and found my post about the loss of my american flag lapel pin that I wear to honor my son's service in the Marine Corps. Those comments are beneath contempt and provide the final evidence of your complete lack of intellect and character. When you call me "tasteless" because I shared my personal loss with my friends here (albeit with the anonymity of an internet forum), but then make comments like those you did relating to my son, well, their is a word for that: HYPOCRITE! You are a pathetic, disgusting excuse for a human being and should be ashamed of yourself(selves).

One of the resident idiots wrote this: "No mention of whether the son lost his life, or just did his gig and got the f*** out."

So if he "lost his life," then his service would be meaningful, whereas, otherwise, he "just did his gig and got the f*** out." So much for gentlemanly behavior. What kind of comment is this? Seriously? I just continue to be amazed by the utter stupidity of some people.

PS I did not mean to denegrate this thread with my defense of family here, but when others are free to attack you and/or your family and you are not free to defend them, well, sometimes you just find a way.


----------



## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

I am speechless at your kind words. 

Please...I know how easy a target I just made myself for that comment...no easy shots needed! :icon_smile:


----------



## whomewhat (Nov 11, 2006)

Wayfarer said:


> I am speechless at your kind words.
> 
> Please...I know how easy a target I just made myself for that comment...no easy shots needed! :icon_smile:


We have not always agreed on things, indeed, we have vigorously disagreed at times, but you have always done so with kindness and respect and that is all a person can ask for, and it is what I require of those I associate with.


----------



## vinouspleasure (Aug 1, 2007)

Sorry to be late to this thread. I setup and my wife runs a web site for a large Manhattan wine shop.

The high-end wine business is mostly geared by supply and demand curves. The demand for this particular wine is very high as its generally considered one of the top 10 US cabs. The wine is typically just sold to their mailing list subscribers and restaurants. If the wine appreciates, many subscribers are tempted to flip the wine via auction.

While you could have sold this wine at auction (there are online auctions for wine), you really don't know the provenance of the wine or how it was stored. Still, I'm sure you would have done well and then could have donated the proceeds if you so chose.

Finding this wine is about the equivalent of finding a nice pair of santoni fams...


----------



## whomewhat (Nov 11, 2006)

Since I do not drink, I guess it should not be a surprise that I was not aware that they have an Ebay for wine! 

In Idaho alcohol sales in somewhat regulated, that is, if the alcohol content goes above a certain number (I do not know what that number is) you can only buy it is a state authorized liquor store (we have one, that I am aware of, within 25 miles). I found this out when I was looking for brandy for a recipe I had and could not find it in the supermarket liquor section. After looking in 3 different markets, someone finally told me about the regulations. 

Given that, I wonder if I could actually sell it from Idaho anyway? It is weird because when I lived full time in the Bay Area, 2 hours from Napa/Sonoma/Calistoga, getting any wine, good wine, for cooking was so easy. It is much harder here.

Since I have received no comments on the current wine listed, I am guessing it is no good? So what do I do with a bottle of sub par wine that apparently is not useful in cooking, based on the previous posts? I may not drink, but I hate waste and do not just want to throw it away. I guess I could give it to the same friend I sent the other bottle to, but save it for the next time I am in the Bay Area. It makes a good souvenier item since it says Lake Coeur d' Alene on it.


----------



## Teacher (Mar 14, 2005)

egadfly said:


> As the others have noted, this is -- or at least has the potential to be -- an _outstanding_ bottle of wine. In my opinion, it would be a waste to use as a cooking wine, as all of its nuance will be lost.


medwards, please archive this under "understatement of 2007." Thank you.


----------



## whomewhat (Nov 11, 2006)

In my defense, I have admitted that I do not drink. ic12337:


----------



## CPVS (Jul 17, 2005)

whomewhat said:


> In my defense, I have admitted that I do not drink. ic12337:


... several times


----------

