Posted on 12/10/2005 8:15:42 PM PST by LibWhacker
NEW ORLEANS (Dec. 10) - In the dark, dank recesses of what was once one of the great wine cellars of the world, the fabled bottles sit. The 1870 Lafite Rothschild, the Chateau Moutons, Chateau Magaux - fine wines with enormous price tags, or at least they were.
The wine cellar at Brennan's Restaurant, winner since 1983 of Wine Spectator magazine's Grand Award as one of the 85 top cellars in the world, has 35,000 bottles that since Hurricane Katrina have gone from vintage to vinegar.
"They may be drinkable, but they're probably better for salads," said Ted Brennan, whose brother Jimmy spent 35 years building the collection.
The Brennan's wine cellar covers two floors in what was once the carriage house of the 1795 French Quarter mansion-turned-restaurant. Domestic wines are stacked to the ceiling on the first floor, European vintages on the second floor. Behind a locked gate is the private collection - dusty bottles of fine wines so costly they have waited for years for someone to taste them.
The collection, which was insured for $1 million, was ruined when the electricity went off after the hurricane. The wine cellar, normally kept at 58 degrees year-round, was suddenly at the mercy of the broiling sun and heat wave that followed the storm.
"It got so hot those few weeks, I know it easily got to 120 degrees in there," Brennan said. "The wine was literally cooked."
Wine lovers made regular pilgrimages to Brennan's to sample what cellar master Harry Hill believes was the biggest and best cellar between Florida and Texas and the Gulf of Mexico and Chicago.
Diners could easily add hundreds, even thousands of dollars to their tab by ordering wine. Hill sadly showed off a magnum of 1997 Opus One that the restaurant bought several years ago for $400, now worth $1,000.
"It was one of those years when God bent over and kissed California," Hill said of the wine, its bottle now covered with mold spots.
"Some of the youngest wines might be drinkable for someone who doesn't really know what to expect," he said. "But even they have lost their finish."
For older vintages, the heat's effect was worse.
There was also damage when cases of wine fell during the storm, exploding and spewing their contents over other bottles.
Before rebuilding the cellar, the Brennans will send the remaining bottles to a man in California who bought them from the insurance company, Ted Brennan said. The man plans to auction them off.
"Someone might want to buy a special bottle to commemorate an occasion," Brennan said. "Or someone might want to roll the dice and hope to get a rare vintage cheap and be able to drink it."
One bottle will be a special bargain.
That 1870 Lafite Rothschild. The Brennans bought it a decade ago for $14,000.
The first thing that comes to mind - who wants to commemorate losing everything?
JK. Barely.
There is another thread that started a few hours ago and you may want to link to it. Digger48 posted the article. There was quite a bit of activity on the thread.
Same story, different title. You are not to blame, if indeed it is blameworthy.
I lived in NO in the early 70's and drank warm Ripple regularly without air conditioning and it was just fine- I think they're overreacting.
Surprised the insurers didn't ask for an on-site backup generator. They really bet $1 million the power would never go out?
Proving once again: "Use it, or lose it".
Proving once again: "Use it, or lose it".
Sorry, all -- it was not good enough for an encore. Just used my quick trigger finger (fearing I might lose it, I guess).
Powder..Patch..Ball FIRE!
If it was worth so much why didn't he have backup power generation in place? Why not evacuate the wine? Surely with his rep he could have gotten a loan of a cellar?
Normal disaster recovery for those kind of assets?
Sounds like insurance scam to me... let all the wine go bad and then collect.... retire and walk away.
Wine - A terrible waste of good grape juice.
Ahhhh...
but then it becomes good salad dressing!!!
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