Superlative wines

I vacillate between wishing I could drink wine like this every night, and being glad that I don’t.  I’m afraid that drinking wines of this quality on a daily basis would eventually leave me desensitized to their brilliance.  And it was kind of fun sharing this with a friend who enjoys wine, although he knew nothing about Sine Qua Non before tonight.  My only crime opening this bottle was not giving it enough air. I thought about having Carolynn decant it during the day, but then before I knew it we were home and scrambling to put on some food for our friends. It was interesting, sharing this with friends who enjoy wine, but are not wine geeks. I didn’t say anything about it until we were halfway through the bottle, then I mentioned that this was a Parker 100-pointer. My buddy said “really?” I think it was one of those moments when a person can’t reconcile their own experience with that of a professional. Not that he didn’t enjoy it, but I believe he was expecting it to do something transcendental. Interesting perspective on points. As for the wine itself, I had another bottle of this about 18 months ago (also popped and poured), and it hasn’t budged much. Intense nose, meat intermingling with perfume and black, black fruits. The palate got better over the course of a couple hours with air–it was just too tight at first, although still delicious. Tannins are quite noticeable, but there’s plenty of fruit and other stuff going on to help you forget about them. The finish lasts and lasts–more of the fruit, the meat, some licorice. The problem I have with this wine at this point is that it’s good, and I enjoyed it quite a bit, but I think it will be so much better when it hits its peak.