Friday, August 25, 2017

Le Pan Apicius Display Cellar - Yquem Collection


Le Pan Apicius Display Cellar - Yquem Collection 




On my last 2 posts (here and here), I was telling you about the Display Cellar of the French Restaurant Le Pan Apicius (Goldin Group) and the fact that it includes old and rare vintages of Petrus, Cheval Blanc, Latour, Lafite, Mouton, Haut-Brion, and other glorious wines.... 

...but more importantly, it includes one of the most unique collections of Chateau d'Yquem in the world outside the Chateau, dating back from 1825 to present with at least one bottle of each vintage produced in between (except between 1825 and 1856)..

Please note that Chateau d'Yquem did not produce vintage 1910, 1915, 1930, 1951, 1952, 1964, 1972, 1974, 1992 and 2012.. and therefore you will not find them on these pictures below. If you happen to find one bottle of one these unproduced vintages in the market, it is a fake... do not buy it (dugh)...

For those of you who will notice the date on the cork of the bottle of 1865 at the bottom of this post and may wonder about the pristine condition of the labels, the bottles of this collection were reconditioned (relabeled, recorked and even refilled (for some)) some in 1992 (and some in 2005 I believe).

The Yquem Collection on display in the cellar represent 143 bottles in total, including136 bottles of a unique vintage from 1825 to 2007 (the collection was bought in Auction a few years ago and also includes magnum size of some of these vintages, which have not been put on display, but that are kept sacredly in one of our other cellars).   

It is quite spectacular and amazing (I must say) to be able to see so many old and rare vintages in one place, more especially on display in a restaurant's wine cellar covering the entire wall of the corridor leading to the main dining room. 

To reassure some of you who may scream of horror seeing all of these lights on such treasurable gems, I just switched them ON for the pictures only. They are normally kept switched off (except some small ones in the background with no direct light on the bottles), and it is my job to make sure that they are kept switched OFF for the bottles to rest in the most ideal environment and conditions (temperature/humidity) to age slowly and properly, and be protected at all time against aggressive lights (even if LED).... 

Trust me, it was already very difficult for me to accept that these Old and Rare Ladies could be put in such display cellar in the first place (as it is far from ideal to preserve them due to many factors eventually affecting them). However, I had to resign myself to accept the unacceptable as it was a request from my chairman....    

In any case, such display cellar is quite unique for a restaurant and visually it is definitely a treat for the eyes of all wine lovers...

Well... I think that visuals are stronger and louder than words, so, here are some pictures of both the Display Cellar and the Yquem Collection for your wondering eyes....

NB: The pictures are unfortunately a little blurry due to the reverberation of the restaurant external lights in the window and the cellar internal yellow lights.. I tried to fix them a little but that is the best I could do... in any case, it gives a good idea of the Yquem Collection

Le Pan Restaurant Display Cellar © LeDomduVin

Le Pan Restaurant Display Cellar © LeDomduVin

Yquem Collection 1825 to 1870 © LeDomduVin

Yquem Collection 1874 to 1890 © LeDomduVin

Yquem Collection 1891 to 1901 © LeDomduVin

Yquem Collection 1902 to 1913 © LeDomduVin

Yquem Collection 1914 to 1925 © LeDomduVin

Yquem Collection 1926 to 1937 © LeDomduVin

Yquem Collection 1938 to 1948 © LeDomduVin

Yquem Collection 1949 to 1962 © LeDomduVin

Yquem Collection 1963 to 1970 © LeDomduVin

Yquem Collection 1971 to 1979 © LeDomduVin

Yquem Collection 1980 to 1990 © LeDomduVin

Yquem Collection 1990 to 2000 © LeDomduVin



As Wine Quality Control Director for the company and Sommelier of my Chairman, I'm the gate and stock keeper of this sanctuary, this Ali Baba cavern full of Liquid Gold. Therefore, I often visit the cellar and inspect these old and rare ladies to make sure they are aging gracefully and peacefully in ideal conditions and without getting harmed by external factors (i.e. light, dust, lack or excess of humidity, unideal temperature variations, etc...) and do not present damage due to these factors (i.e. seepage, leakage, change of color, label, capsule and/or cork degradation).

Here are two bottles that I inspected, 1865 and 1825, corked and reconditioned in 1992, for you to have a closer look....  



Yquem 1865 Capsule © LeDomduVin



Yquem 1865 Bottle © LeDomduVin

Yquem 1865 Capsule © LeDomduVin

Yquem 1865 Capsule © LeDomduVin

Yquem 1865 Capsule © LeDomduVin

Yquem 1865 Label © LeDomduVin



Yquem 1825 Capsule © LeDomduVin

Yquem 1825 Label © LeDomduVin

Yquem 1825 Capsule © LeDomduVin


Yquem 1825 Bottle © LeDomduVin



Yquem 1825 Bottle © LeDomduVin

Yquem 1825 Bottle © LeDomduVin

Et voilà...

Beautiful, aren't they? 

More posts and pictures like those coming soon, so stay tuned... 

NB: I didn't write anything about Chateau d'Yquem or even Pierre Lurton (that I had the chance to meet, eat with and chat with many times over the last 20 years in diverse occasions and countries) as countless articles and books have been written on the subject, and they already have a great website and other's prose tells the story and history of the Chateau like I probably never could...

Santé!

LeDomduVin a.k.a. Dominique Noël

#yquem #yquemcollection #bordeaux #sauternes #lepandisplaycellar #lepanrestaurant #hongkong #ledomduvin




Tuesday, August 22, 2017

LeDomduVin: Visiting Old and Rare Ladies | (Part 2) | TLC as needed


Visiting Old and Rare Ladies | (Part 2) | TLC as needed


On my previous post (here), I was telling you that, 2-3 times a week, I'm visiting the Old and Rare Ladies of the Display Cellar of the French Restaurant "Le Pan Apicius" located in the Headquarters Building of the company I have been working for, for the past 5 years, (Goldin Group), to provide them with some TLC (Tenderness, Love and Care) as needed. 

As you know, storage conditions, climate and environment are crucial for these Ladies to age gracefully and the best way possible without getting too "old", "decrepit" and/or "unbearable" to quickly (Am I still talking about bottles of wine? 😉). 

However, do not freak out Ladies, it is unavoidable, with age come skin creases and outfit crisis (i.e. understand damaged or deteriorating label), and I'm here for you to help and remedy to this undesirable situation (I think that I'm not going to make any friends amongst the women reading this post...)....

So here we are, a few weeks ago, we had a major issue with the cooling unit maintaining the temperature and humidity levels in the display cellar (which unfortunately took a few days to be repaired) and I realised that the humidity level was going down around 50-55% instead of the usual and ideal 70-75% level.

You see the problem with old ladies is that once they lay down comfortably and adapted to their environment, better not move them to prevent from choking or brusk them, moreover they get very cranky and take days to settle down back in the right mood after being moved ...

As a consequence, and despite the use of additional water buckets placed in the cellar the duration of the repair, some of these old and rare Lady's labels started to dry up and get slightly detached.

It was a horrible sight for a Sommelier like me...  I couldn't watch my old Ladies friends dried up... 
I had to do something.. And so I did... I decided to dress them up with a plastic film to maintain the label in place and avoid further deterioration... a sort of a makeup to make them pretty and resplendent once again....   what will I not do for these Ladies.... ?!?  How could I resist facing these "Grand Dames" in great distress? 

Let's get dressed up Ladies.... especially you... yeah, you... the very old ones (...antic should I dare to say... historical might be better) from one of the most unique collections of Chateau d'Yquem outside the Chateau with vintages dating back to 1825... I really don't want to see you undressed... 



Latour 1945 detached Label  © LeDomduVin


Latour 1945 detached Label  © LeDomduVin


Latour 1945 bottle without the label © LeDomduVin


Latour 1945 detached label © LeDomduVin

Label Protection Operation Tools © LeDomduVin

Latour 1945 detached label © LeDomduVin

Latour 1945 detached label © LeDomduVin

Latour 1945 with plastic film covered label © LeDomduVin

Latour 1945 with plastic film covered label © LeDomduVin


Latour 1945 slightly detached label © LeDomduVin

Latour 1945 with plastic film covered label © LeDomduVin


Mouton 1947 with plastic film covered label © LeDomduVin


Mouton 1949 with plastic film covered label © LeDomduVin


Mouton 1949 with plastic film covered label © LeDomduVin


Lafite 1945 slightly damaged and detached label © LeDomduVin


Lafite 1945 with plastic film covered label © LeDomduVin

Lafite 1945 slightly damaged and detached label © LeDomduVin

Lafite 1945 with plastic film covered label © LeDomduVin

H Jayer 1996 Vosne-Romanée Cros- Parantoux label © LeDomduVin


Yquem 1856 slightly detached label © LeDomduVin


Yquem 1856 with plastic film covered label © LeDomduVin



Yquem 1857 slightly detached label © LeDomduVin



Yquem 1857 with plastic film covered label © LeDomduVin

Cheval Blanc 1949 slightly detached label © LeDomduVin



Cheval Blanc 1949 with plastic film covered label © LeDomduVin

Cheval Blanc 1949 damaged and slightly detached label © LeDomduVin



Cheval Blanc 1949 with plastic film covered label © LeDomduVin

Yquem 1925 slightly detached label © LeDomduVin



Yquem 1925 with plastic film covered label © LeDomduVin

Lafite 1961 damaged label © LeDomduVin

Lafite 1961 with plastic film covered label © LeDomduVin

Yquem 1891 slightly detached label © LeDomduVin


Yquem 1891 with plastic film covered label © LeDomduVin




Yquem 1825 © LeDomduVin


Yquem 1825 with plastic film covered label (just in case) © LeDomduVin

Beautiful, aren't they? Yes, I know, this Display Cellar is a Sommelier, or should I say a collector, dream come true. 

I feel very privileged and humbled to be able to hold and take care of these beauties, memories of the past who survived history and still live to this day... They need to be preserved and tend to until maybe one day someone decides to lay them forever in a museum or offer them a better end by savoring them religiously right after listening to their last whisper when releasing the cork.... and let them finally take their last breath...  (sigh)



NB: I hope you get the metaphors in my way of writing these posts... otherwise ask someone to explain you... it is second degree mixed French-American humor... but some of you might not get it at all.... (sigh) 

More post like this coming soon, so stay tuned. 

To be continued.....

Santé, 

LeDomduVin a.k.a. Dominique Noël