What Are Your 99 Wines? (Part 19)

“Happiness, like a fine wine, should be savored sip by sip.”

– Ludwig Andreas von Feuerbach

This article brings back so many memories. It is about Basim, a dear friend whom we lost too soon. He taught me so much about wine and life. He used to say to me, “My dear Andras, wine is life.”

Every sip I take of the wines he introduced to me will always remind me of him.

53 and 54. Châteaux Pétrus and Le Pin – “Orbis non Sufficit.”

Châteaux Pétrus and Le Pin are two of the most legendary wines from Pomerol, but why are they special? Does a djinn pop out if I rub a bottle of Pétrus? Will my life be forever altered if I take a sip of Le Pin? Will I become a better dancer? Will my jokes become funnier?

I am of Afro-Cuban heritage, but I have no sense of rhythm. I love good jokes, but I cannot tell one for love or money. However, I can say that my life was transformed after having wines from Châteaux Pétrus and Le Pin.

Basim was a dear friend, a roué, oenophile, and man of the world. We met at a party in New York in the 1970s. Basim loved life, but especially art and music. He could not have too much, party too long, or miss out on anything. He did not like to be alone, so he always had an entourage. He also had a heart of gold and would go out of his way to help anyone who was in trouble.

Basim had an amazing palate and an encyclopedic memory when it came to wine. For Basim, merely good was not enough. It had to be the best. Basim swore he was surely related to James Bond. He claimed that he first had their shared family motto, “Orbis non Sufficit,” “The World Is Not Enough.”

Basim was Lebanese. I grew up in Iraq, and I loved travelling to Beirut as a boy. Basim liked me, for some reason. He said I reminded him of a friend from school. One of my dearest friends, whom I grew up with, was also named Basim. That is how our friendship began. He always made sure I was invited to his parties and to dinners I could not afford.

This article brings back so many memories. It is about Basim, a dear friend whom we lost too soon.

One evening, I called Basim and said I was in town. He was ecstatic and insisted that I join a small group of friends he was having for an intimate dinner. He told me that he was serving a little food and a few bottles of wine.

Now, when I say that I am serving “a little food and a few bottles of wine” I mean perhaps some crudités and other appetizers accompanied by some nice wine. Knowing Basim, his idea of “a little food” meant that it was likely to be catered by some celebrity chef. His concept of “a few bottles of wine” meant some fabled bottles I had only read about.

I arrived at Basim’s two-story Upper East Side apartment opposite Central Park. His apartment was beautiful, decorated as if it were about to be photographed for Architectural Digest. I always envied his art collection. He even had a piece on loan to MoMA, as his collection included several original works by O’Keeffe, Pollock, Rothko, Warhol, and Jasper Johns.

Dinner was as I had expected. It was anything but crudités and other appetizers. However, the stars that evening were the wines. I had never been to Bordeaux at that time, and the wines I had from there were wines Basim had introduced to me. This is embarrassing to say now, but I did not know the difference between the Left and Right Banks at that time, other than one was on the left, and that meant the other had to be on the right. I was about to jump into the deep end of the pool.

There were only nine of us at dinner. The evening began with a magnum of Krug Clos Du Mesnil 1976. Krug was Basim’s favorite Champagne. He is the person who introduced me to Krug, and that is how it became my favorite Champagne.

The first course was paired with Château Pétrus. Unfortunately, I do not recall the vintage of this or any of the other wines we had that evening, other than the Krug. I had read about Pétrus, but I had never had it, as it was a tad beyond my budget. Château Pétrus is in the Pomerol AOC adjacent to Saint-Émilion. This means that the dominant varietal is Merlot. The Château dates to the mid-1750s, making it one of the oldest vineyards in Pomerol. However, the name Pétrus did not appear in records until 1837. Pétrus won a gold medal at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1878. This established a selling price that was comparable to a Médoc second growth, which was something no other wine from Pomerol had ever done at that time.

Pétrus’s fame continued to grow. Magnums of Pétrus were served at Queen Elizabeth II’s wedding in 1947 and her coronation in 1953. Pétrus was introduced to the United States in 1945. Pétrus was Aristotle Onassis’s go-to wine at the famed New York restaurant Le Pavillon in the 1960s.

Basim described Pétrus to us. Pétrus is an elegant and refined wine with notes of lilacs, violets, truffles, chocolate, plums, cherries, mint leaf, spice, strawberry, and black raspberries. This is a wine that can age 40 years or more. There is a reason why Pétrus is mythic and is recognized as being one of the most prestigious Bordeaux wines. I had never had anything like it before, and I am not sure I have ever had anything like it since.

We had another vintage of Pétrus before we were presented with another wine from Château Le Pin, which I had also never had. Honestly, I had never heard of Le Pin at that time. As Basim described it, Le Pin does not have the ancient, historical pedigree of many of the great châteaux of Bordeaux. In fact, its history only dates to the early 20th century. However, it really came into its own in 1979.

Belgian Georges Thienpont acquired Château Troplong Mondot in 1924. Three years later, he acquired Vieux Château Certain. In 1979, what was to become the Chateau Le Pin vineyards were developed.

Chateau Le Pin is a five-acre estate in Pomerol near their other Chateaux. Le Pin became one of Bordeaux’s first “vins de garage” or “garagiste” wines. In fact, the wines were first created in the farmhouse basement. Production is limited, as they only produce about 7,000 bottles annually.

Robert Parker, Jr., of the Wine Advocate, tasted the wine and was blown away. His review put Le Pin on the map, and the price went from around €100.00 to thousands of Euros. Le Pin is a sexy, sleek wine. It is 100% Merlot, with a nose and taste of red and blue fruits as well as toast, crème brûlé, spice, and exotic flowers. Taste-wise, Le Pin is comparable to a Burgundian wine. In fact, it has been called the Romanée-Conti of Bordeaux.

Pétrus is an elegant and refined wine with notes of lilacs, violets, truffles, chocolate, plums, cherries, mint leaf, spice, strawberry, and black raspberries.

My friend Basim did it again. He introduced me to wines that were life-altering. This is how my love for wines from Bordeaux began. I remember the first time I went to Pomerol. I stood in front of Château Pétrus, and I smiled. I thought of Basim and my first taste of Pétrus that evening so many years before. However, I still cannot tell a joke, and I look like I have two left feet when I try to dance. Oh, well, I guess I will just have to have more wine!

Sahha!