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Favorite Wines of Sherlock Holmes

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By John Hailman

John Hailman of Oxford will be joining HottyToddy.com as a regular contributor on two subjects: Law and Wine. Now retired from both his “day job” as a federal prosecutor in Oxford after 33 years and his “night job” of 25 years as a nationally syndicated daily columnist in more than 100 daily papers on wine, food and travel for Gannett News Service and the Washington Post, Hailman will cover both topics under the titles of The Legal Eagle and Wine Tips of the Week. HottyToddy.com will also run periodic excerpts from Hailman’s upcoming book of humorous legal stories: From Midnight to Guntown: True Crime Stories From A Federal Prosecutor in Mississippi. Hailman now teaches Federal Trial Practice and Law and Literature at Ole Miss.

Everyone needs heroes. Mine have varied from Lawrence of Arabia to baseball player Rod Carew, depending on my age and condition at the time, but one has stood the test of time: Sherlock Holmes. Of all fictional characters, this English detective exemplified enjoyment of life at its best.

Sherlock Holmes was the first man I ever heard called a “connoisseur,” and it applied to everything from his taste in firearms and cigars to music and wine, of which he mentioned several favorites. No one ever called him a “common-sewer” of wine as someone did me recently, in jest I’m sure.

The creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, was of course a medical doctor. For that reason, doctors have always had a special liking for Holmes. I am grateful to Dr. Paul Scholten of San Francisco for reminding me recently of the many wine references in the Holmes mysteries.

The most winey story of all was “Sign Of The Four,” in which Holmes drank not only red burgundy from Beaune for lunch, but old Hungarian Tokay and three glasses of port after dinner. For those wishing to emulate the great detective 100 years later, there are some truly great 1985 Beaunes on the shelf right now. If those are too high, try a Santa Barbara County pinot noir like Sanford or Gainey.

With Hungary now a free-market country, its Tokays should be improving. The main thing for beginners to know about Tokay is that it is best as a dessert wine. Each label tell how man “puttonyos,” or eight-gallon vats of overripe grapes, have been added to to each barrel. They vary from three (the lightest), to five (the sweetest).

For port, which Holmes also enjoys in “The Creeping Man,” I recommend a tawny from Suarez, for the amber color it gets from barrel-aging. For vintage port, supposedly Sherlock’s favorite, try quinta do Noval, a 1963 if possible. They are drinking beautifully now as Sherlock would have said. For ruby port, I’ve always loved Graham’s. If you prefer U.S. wines, try a port of cabernet sauvignon from Beringer, now California’s best.

Holmes and Watson as Englishmen necessarily drank a lot of claret or red Bordeaux, notably in “The Dying Detective” and “The Cardboard Box,” although I found no reference to particular Bordeaux chateaux. In that case, you can try any Bordeaux, but based on his other tastes, I’d guess Holmes would like something classic, simple and moderately priced from a village like Pauillac, where Lafite and Latour still are located, say a Pontet-Canet. A light, ripe vintage like 1975 would be right down his line. A St. Julien might do as well, especially for lighter dishes. For U.S. equivalents, try one of the new Meritage blends like Cain Five from Napa or Langtry red from the Lake Country estate which once belonged to actress Lillie Langtry.

Dr. Doyle mentioned the name of Sherlock Holmes’s favorite wine merchant, Mr. Vamberry, and a wine salesman named Winderbank, a scoundrel. Holmes’ favorite white wines were burgundies, apparently obtained for special occasions from Mr. Vamberry, especially Montrachet and Meursault. To celebrate his success in “The Veiled Lodger,” Holmes chose a partiridge and “something a little choice in white wines,” i.e., a Montrachet.

Although stil by acclamation the top white burgundy, most Montrachet now costs as much as a modest used car. On special occasions, it is worth it, but a Meursault from a good house like Roulot is fine at half the price.

Once again, if you are a patriot like Holmes and especially want to support the wines of our country, I suggest a rich and flavorful Stony Hill Chardonnay, the 1985 being especially good, and can be excellent with game birds that are not too gamey like Holmes’ favorite goose and pheasant. For French game birds aged in brandy, a red wine would do better.

When life gets rough, you might have to turn for medicinal purposes to Cognac, as Holmes did in “The Hound of the Baskervilles” and “The Reigate Squires,” or even to a brown sherry. Emilio Lustau produces fine sherries available here, perhaps a Manzanilla, my own favorite and Thomas Jefferson’s. Whatevery wine we try, if it is good, the connoisseur Sherlock Holmes probably got there before us in one story or another. Not bad footsteps to follow come to think of it.

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