Penfolds 1999 St Henri Shiraz

[wolfiehasnoidea]

I was given a bottle of this wine a few years ago. After reading the back label, I put it away in my "cellar" (bottom corner of a darkish cupboard) thinking I'd let it age nicely and forgot about it. I found it the other day and would like to know if it will be any good after 12 years? Or, can I put it back and forget about it for another ten years?
Cheers
Josh

[TiggerK]

Depends if you live in Darwin or Hobart Josh!! And depends where it lived before you got it.

Hobart, might get away with it, Darwin, likely ruined by now. Any location in between is a lottery. Personally I'd be looking for an excuse to drink it sooner rather than later. Give it an hour in a decanter first, then see what's what.

Cheers
Tim

[bacchaebabe]

Actually, if it's really been in a dark cupboard undisturbed for a number of years, it should be fine (as long as you really don't live in Darwin). St Henri is typically a long lived wine and as long as the cupboard isn't next to your heater it should be OK. The worst thing for wine is daily fluctuations in temperature. Vibration and exposure to light don't help either but you should be right for the latter two.

Depending on your daily temperature fluctuation, it should be fine to drink over the next five years and possibly even longer if you live in a cooler (or place with minor seasonal variations) area. Wine is a lot more hardy than many people give it credit for.

[Waiters Friend]

I'm with Kris on this. Chances are it will be fine, and even perhaps a tad too young.

I've been picking up some 98 & 99 SA Shiraz at auction over the past couple of months, at ridiculously low prices, and they're fine so far.

[TiggerK]

I was more concerned for the cork, not the wine.... !! Especially given the variability of late 90's aussie corks. The wine will handle the temp variations much better than the cork will. And do you know where it was for the first decade of it's life?? If it's been stored well, it'll be still too young, but even in a cupboard, summers at ambients often well above 25 will accelerate the aging quite a lot. Of course if it's a cool part of the house you'll be safer.

Only one way to find out! I still say better enjoyed sooner rather than later.

Cheers
Tim

[wolfiehasnoidea]

This may sound like a silly question (the name I've used should explain that!) but can I open it, decant it, taste it then put it back in the bottle for another few years if I think it needs it? A friend of mine knows more about wine than I do so I'll ask his opinion.
By the way, I live in Sydney not Darwin and my house is actually relatively cool all year round, so hopefully it will still be good.

Thanks all!

[graham]

Penfolds does it at clinics but at home I'd not risk it.

[fatdoi]

don't think it's a good idea as you've let oxygen in & that'll start the oxidation process, plus decanting will speed it up so basically your bottle will only have hours to live..... or maybe 1 day or so.
also do you have access to corking machine to recork it??
one idea is to get another bottle from auction & try it out....

[Mike Hawkins]

Once you pull the cork, drink up !

[cuttlefish]

Yeah, drink and enjoy. It's not like it's irreplaceable.

[rooman]

I opened one of these back in January at a pizza night for my son's birthday with friends. It is drinking well and had a few friends look up and grab the bottle to check out what they were drinking. It will go a another decade or so but is very pleasant now. Personally I would not decant but rather open 2-3 hours before drinking.