LIBRARY AT KEEGAN CELLARS

Seconds before getting the boot. photo by Andy Katz

Library\ ‘lI,brerE, - b(r) also + -, ber- \ n –ES often attrib (ME librarie, fr. ML librarium & libraria, fr. Neut. & fem. respectively of L librarius of books , fr. libr-, liber book + -arius –ary) 1 a : a room, a section or series of sections of a building, or a building itself given over to books, manuscripts, musical scores or other literary and sometimes artistic materials (italics mine) (as paintings or musical recordings) usu. kept in some convenient order for use but not for sale…..

There you have it from Webster’s. According to that definition this is certainly not a library…..but it is the nomenclature that we have adopted in the wine biz for older wines. This ‘library’ is held not in a sexy vault or underground cave but at the warehouse where I keep all my wines. The good news is that this building is a professional wine storage warehouse and the conditions are impeccably maintained for the cool, steady aging that fine wines require. Oh, and that not for sale part….I have VERY little older wine usually less than a case of 750’s. I made 10 cases of magnums of all red wines and have not traditionally sold them, keeping them for wine dinners, etc. Although there is not much depth to this library if you are in need of something special (a personal red letter date for example) or to fill in a vertical please let me know. Go to Contact and send me an e-mail.

The picture on this page is a hidden jewel from the archives. In 1996 I spent some time in Burgundy just after my harvest was complete and in the final days of le vendage in and around Beaune. This trip was quite different from my other visits to "the holy grail of pinot noir", for two reasons: 1) I wanted some real vacation/down time after the long days of crush and 2) I was there hangin’ with my pal Andy Katz who was working on his book of photographic impressions of Burgundy. Andy was out early in the morning and again at sunset each day to execute his beautiful camera work. This left him free in the middle of the day to play and, after a couple of months of working there, he had found many wonderful playmates. Suffice it to say that a vacation was had! But, on an alternate day, when pursuing our professional excuses for being in France we landed at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. Andy took photos and I snooped around. Here is a photo of a bottle of my first vintage, 1994, resting among the family library of the owners of DRC. Cherished if for nothing more than the gall it took to take it. As you see, their library dates back many years……………….Here is mine:

2000 Pinot Noir   E Block   Russian River Chardonnay   Russian River   Poplar/Ritchie	1999 Pinot Noir   E Block   Russian River Chardonnay   Russian River	1998 Pinot Noir   E Block   Russian River Chardonnay   Knight's Valley
1997 Pinot Noir   Russian River Chardonnay   Knight's Valley	1996 Pinot Noir   Russian River Chardonnay   N.A.	1995 Pinot Noir   Russian River Chardonnay   Knight's Valley
1994 Pinot Noir   Russian River

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