Liquid Gold 2023
The Liquid Gold concept was invented in 2019 as the solution to a problem.
The ‘problem’ was one of my own making. After thirty years of buying bottles at a far greater rate than I can drink them I found my cellar was overflowing, and a large percentage of what I had accrued were sweet wines of steadily increasing maturity. These included a huge array of wines from the Sauternes and Barsac appellations, as well as a hearty selection of cuvées from the Coteaux du Layon, Quarts de Chaume, Bonnezeaux, Vouvray and Montlouis-sur-Loire appellations. I even have the odd bottle of German Auslese tucked away.
Some ‘problem’, you might say.
Still, a solution was called for. I decided that once each year I would pull a selection of wines on a theme, starting in 2019 with a broad array of Sauternes and Barsac (admittedly a rather loosely defined theme) in what became Liquid Gold Episode 1. Then in Episodes 2 and 3 I tapped into a couple of significant Loire Valley anniversaries, taking in a small selection of wines from the 1989 vintage in the Loire Valley in 2020, and then the 1990 vintage in the Loire Valley in 2021 (yes, I do realise that in each case I was a year behind schedule). Then in 2022 came Liquid Gold Episode 4, a long-planned deep dive into the Quarts de Chaume appellation, with more than twenty wines from a range of vintages.
So now it is time for Episode 5.
