How many bottles of Château Mouton-Rothschild can you drink? A fair question, but not one you'd ask most wine collectors, for whom the label is an end in itself. Unlike Joseph Walike, MD. No, for this retired plastic surgeon, wines like Mouton [and Haut Brion and Pichon-Lalande and Heitz Martha's Vineyard and Quilceda Creek] are amassed and stored for the pure pleasure of drinking them.
He's built a lovely wine cellar in the basement of his West Seattle waterfront home to house his treasures. Which, I remind you, he does drink. We shared a couple of 1982-vintage California cabs the other evening. The corks went into the overflowing basket. A bottle of wine a night, two or three bottles with friends, it adds up. Joe's kids are still teenagers; I don't think there's going to be much left for them ...
