It's all a matter of who you talk to and who you believe

Yesterday marked another year that my Financial Advisor has spent in this world. In anticipation of such an event, great plans were made and dashed. In the end, all worked out just fine and the F.A. and myself arrived for dinner at 8 in the pee em. The venue for this meal (and many before as well as more to come) was Elizabeth on 37th. If you ever find yourself in this little piece of paradise known as Savannah, Georgia, this is the only restaurant that matters. That is not to say there aren't other good or even excellent restaurants in this town, there most definitely are. But Elizabeth is operating on a totally different level. With the Brothers Butch (Greg and Gary) on the floor and Kelly and Jeremy in the back, one would have to go out of their way not to have an 'experience' here. The food is unreal and the wines (both listed and not listed) will bring you to tears. And it is of the wine served last night that I will now speak.

Château Gloria - St.-Julien-Beychevelle 1975.

At 29 years old, this wine was incredible. Given that I generally refrain from esoteric, long winded, self serving descriptors, this wine showed what a true joy it can be to drink a properly aged Bordeaux. Unfortunately, I think that most people don't get the opportunity to drink such wines very often if ever. This is either because of short sightedness on the restaurant's behalf or impatience and lack of understanding in the home cellar. Everything about this wine screamed 'subtlety'. Aromatics were tight and ever changing. Alcohol hardly noticable on the nose. Color very much intact with no breaking at the edge. Tannins, while very much still present, subdued. All in all, quite possibly the perfect bottle for the meal.

With that said, let us take a look at Monsieur Parker's take on this same wine:

This has always been a very good 1975. Atypically powerful and muscular for Gloria, it exhibits as much fruit as many of the top wines. The opaque garnet color reveals slight amber at the edge. The wine offers a classic St.-Julien/Pauillac aromatic profile (tobacco, cedar, currants) combined with more earthy, dusty notes than usual (blame that on the 1975 vintage). A sweet, rich, chewy attack is followed by a dense, concentrated wine that may suffer from a lack of complexity and finesse, but more than compensates for that deficiency with plenty of muscle, extract, ripeness, and body. Drink it over the next 5-7 years. Last tasted 12/95.

For the record, he gave this wine 87 points. To put this into perspective, he also awarded the 2002 Yellow Tail 'The Reserve' Shiraz 87 points. I would dare say that I take exception to this. And according to his own notes, drinking a .75 Gloria in November of 2004 is too late. This wine is D.O.A. Far from it my friend. Further proof that he is just one dude with one opinion. And you know what they say about opinions and a**holes, everybody's got one.

Just a side note. Parker rated the entire vintage of 1975 for St. Julien, St. Estephe, and Pauillac an 89-I which according to the legend makes the 1975 'Above Average to Excellent' and 'Irregular, even among the best wines'. I have long contended that the French at their worst are better than most at their best. This wine was (is, and will be for some time) proof.