Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!

New York City is in the midst of a persistent heat wave with "real feel" temperatures reaching the mid to high 100s. Retailers around the city and its environs are relentlessly advertising specials on the perfect "heat wave wines" when even an avid wine lover such as myself knows it's friggin' beer weather! Better yet, water weather! Any cold beverage you have would serve you better simply poured over your sweating brow. But I digress.

Yesterday, on what I can safely say was the hottest day of the year, a bottle of wine was delivered to me from a local retailer. Yes, you read that right. Yesterday. The hottest day of the year. Wine delivered in an un-refrigerated truck. And to make matters worse the wine was a Chateau La Mission Haut Brion from 1976. A fragile wine. Even if it was a young 2003 Cabernet from California it would have been unacceptable but at least young kids can take the heat. Any retailer in their right mind would not have shipped any wine over the past few days.

I won't belabor the point. The wine went directly into the Eurocave as soon as it was rescued from the doorman. I can only hope that it will be the same charming wine I tasted two months ago at an auction pre-sale. The wine was not highly lauded by critics — quite the opposite in fact. But to me it had great intensity of flavor and is worthy of drinking again. The bottle will most certainly be uncorked soon. I hope to report that it survived the heat unscathed.

Stay tuned — and stay cool.