How old is old
How old is old
Hi, just wanting to know how old is old. I've had to move my mum out of one place and into another and she's has 4 boxes of readers digest wine, dating right back from 2001. can I drink them or can I sell them
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Re: How old is old
I recall a similar situation where I was given a couple of boxes of low value red and white wines dating back 20+ years, that were stored in an open wine rack inside a home. A couple of us spent a disappointing afternoon opening them, assessing them, and pouring all of them down the sink.
If you do sell them, I don't expect they would attract a modest price, let alone a high one.
If you do sell them, I don't expect they would attract a modest price, let alone a high one.
Wine, women and song. Ideally, you can experience all three at once.
Re: How old is old
If readers digest wine, I'd absolutely expect modest commercial wines intended to be drunk within a year or two of release. Hence I'd expect exactly the outcome described above. Some might be alive enough for cooking with, but absolutely taste it before chucking any in the pan/pot.
Quite what makes a wine successful at ageing is something of an imprecise art, but with commercial bottlings there tends to be a lack of acidity (softer wines are more approachable, so they'll try to avoid strong acidity), plus they'll want to avoid noticeable tannins (I recall a discussion waaay back debating whether tannins themselves aid ageing, but there tends to be a correlation between tannic reds and wine that age longer). Also wines from older, less productive vines, tend to make longer-lived wines. The commercial end of the scale tends to take grapes from younger and more productive vines.
There are commercial bottlings that have survived and prospered over a decade or more, but they tend to be isolated examples. In Australia the old Houghton White Burgundy was a star for this. There's also a few grapes that I'd have more hopes for e.g. even quite modest rieslings can age successfully, whilst I recall a wonderfully cheap Rutherglen Estates durif that showed how well suited that grape is to a warm climate, and which breezed through 10 years of age with ease. Outside of this, I've had successes with very modest European wines where seemingly insubstantial wines aged very well on refreshing acidity. Examples include a 20 year old Bardolino and a 15 year old Muscadet.
I hope there's something palatable in there - it's not out of the question, but go in with low expectations and celebrate any successes
Quite what makes a wine successful at ageing is something of an imprecise art, but with commercial bottlings there tends to be a lack of acidity (softer wines are more approachable, so they'll try to avoid strong acidity), plus they'll want to avoid noticeable tannins (I recall a discussion waaay back debating whether tannins themselves aid ageing, but there tends to be a correlation between tannic reds and wine that age longer). Also wines from older, less productive vines, tend to make longer-lived wines. The commercial end of the scale tends to take grapes from younger and more productive vines.
There are commercial bottlings that have survived and prospered over a decade or more, but they tend to be isolated examples. In Australia the old Houghton White Burgundy was a star for this. There's also a few grapes that I'd have more hopes for e.g. even quite modest rieslings can age successfully, whilst I recall a wonderfully cheap Rutherglen Estates durif that showed how well suited that grape is to a warm climate, and which breezed through 10 years of age with ease. Outside of this, I've had successes with very modest European wines where seemingly insubstantial wines aged very well on refreshing acidity. Examples include a 20 year old Bardolino and a 15 year old Muscadet.
I hope there's something palatable in there - it's not out of the question, but go in with low expectations and celebrate any successes
Re: How old is old
Do you have any info about the wine? Label details etc? On average, I am not sure I would expect these wines to age as well as regular cellar door labels.
veni, vidi, bibi
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Re: How old is old
I picked up some 1986 Chateau Tahbilk Shiraz recently - not expecting much but cheap enough to give them a try