Years ago I knew a man who kept a case of wine glasses in the trunk of his car and who would travel around San Francisco almost daily seeking wine bargains.
This was a man with a large and eclectic wine cellar, a man who had written a really esoteric book on the subject ("Buying Guide to California Wine") and who knew about as much about California wine as anyone I ever met.
His name was John Brennan, and anyone who knew him thought him a bit fixated on wine. And that's an understatement.
Brennan was utterly fascinated by unusual wines, and he hated seeing closeouts, mismarks or not-yet-repriced wines sitting on store shelves.
His tactic was to work his way around the wine racks and case-stacked boxes at the closeout stores and look for that rare find that was worth gold, but which he could buy for a song.
About 1984 or so, we dined one evening at a fine restaurant in Ghirardelli Square. He pulled out of a huge carrying case a few odd wines he had scrounged from such places. It was quite a display of gamesmanship.
We started with a half bottle of a 1967 Wente Bros. Pinot Blanc. The wine was superb. "It was undrinkable when it was released," he said. We followed with a half bottle of 1973 sauvignon blanc from Oakville Cellars, long since defunct. "I paid 79 cents for it," he said. The wine was superb.
On and on he went, a 1969 burgundy ("had to get down on my hands and knees to find this one," he said), a half bottle of zinfandel from 1974, an old fortified wine from Concannon.
One day a couple of years later, I joined John on one of his hunting missions and found the field cluttered with potential wines. John bought one bottle of 12 different wines, went out to the parking lot and begin opening them and trying them in his portable wine glasses.
When we found a jewel, he'd go back in the store and buy a case.
I wandered through just such a closeout store last week to see if what John Brennan had pioneered was still worth doing. I realized quickly that a lot of pretty terrible wine is being closed out. It's not the same game as it was 25 years ago, I thought.
Then a wine stopped me cold. It was Australian, and it was from a region I knew but hadn't seen much of here. It was from the 2002 vintage. I bought a bottle for $3.99.
It was sensational, so I went back and bought a case. The following day, so intrigued by the wine, I went back to the store to buy more. All they had was the 2003. I bought one bottle and tried it.
It was awful.
Lesson learned: True bargains are hard to find.
Sonoma County resident Dan Berger publishes "Vintage Experiences," a weekly wine newsletter. Write to him at danberger@rocketmail.com.
UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: