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