This is the fifth volume of my award-winning Wattpad Featured Story, 'Posted As Missing', an intense adventure/romance set in the turmoil of World War One Europe.
I've grown tired of blood-and-guts war stories, so I've written this series to examin...
Michael led David through the cellar to the bins of Château d'Yquem, and as he pointed to the tags, he read, "1913, 1911, 1909, 1908, this is a very rich year." He continued, "1906, 1904, a great wine. 1903, 1901, another lusciously rich year. But here, the 1900, absolutely superb, and the 1899, also excellent."
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He pointed to two empty bins. "1896 and 1897 were good, but they needed drinking." He chose a bottle of the 1893 from the next bin. "My favourite of the lot. We'll have this with dinner." He nodded to the next empty bins. "The 1890 and 1891 were also excellent, but we finished them when they began fading. There's no need of bins for the twenty years of the phylloxera blight, back to our two oldest, the 1870 and 1865."
David turned and counted the bins with wine. "Only thirteen vintages. Seems I was too optimistic when I told Wilhelm I'd assemble twenty bottles of their best vintages from the last few decades."
"Why not do two bottles of each? Pick the ten finest years. That would be better than giving him mediocre vintages for the sake of making the number."
"Excellent! That will make this much easier."
Michael nodded along the aisle and began walking as he talked. "We'll repeat the 1900 pair. I'm still curious to see which is developing better, the Mouton or the Latour."
"We had those when we were here Christmas week, didn't we." David chuckled. "As I recall, I couldn't decide. I kept changing my opinion with each sip."
"As did I, and that's why I want to compare them again while you're here. Two bottles are too much for only Mary and me, and we rarely have guests with an appreciation such as yours." He shrugged. "Great wine is meant to be shared and discussed, but it's a waste to do this with those who don't understand."
"I'm honoured you consider me worthy. I'm still a neophyte, and I bluff my way along."
"With wine, we're all still learning. There's little written on the topic, so the only way to learn is through experience. Besides, one cannot study wine appreciation; one must taste, assess, compare and discuss."
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They arrived at the bins of 1900 Bordeaux, and Michael lifted one of each of the Latour and the Mouton and gently laid them in David's waiting hands, saying, "Let's take these up and allow them to chambré."
