A Special Experience

What's the oldest wine you have ever tasted? We're not talking fortified wine here or even late harvest because they both sometimes last ... well, about forever. We're talking about a traditional, non-fortified, dry wine. And, if that wine was particularly old, was it a pedestrian wine or a legendary wine?

Yesterday, we had a new experience. But, there is a story behind it.

Imagine that nearly 15 years ago, a friend appeared at your house carrying a magnum of wine. She said that it had been given to her, but there were a few problems. She did not have a way to properly store it and, being a magnum, she couldn't drink it alone. We all agreed that we would drink it together someday.

Well, yesterday was that day. Because that friend turns 70 today, there was a party to celebrate het yesterday. 

In 1855, at the request of Napoleon III, the wines of Bordeaux were classified so that visitors from around the world would know the great wines of Bordeaux. The red wines that were classified were Premiers Crus (First Growths), Deuxiemes Crus, Troisiemes Crus, Quatriemes Crus, and Cinqieme Crus, rounding out through the so-called fifth growths. Only five chateaus were awarded first growth status. They were:

• Chateau Lafite (now Chateau Lafite Rothschild)
• Chateau Latour
• Chateau Haut-Brion
• Chateau Margaux
• Chateau Mouton (now Chateau Mouton Rothschild)

This bottle was one of them.

From our friend, we had learned that this wine had been gifted to her by a former boss. And, it had been gifted to him by a customer. We know that there were periods of time when the wine was likely well-kept and periods when it was undoubtedly not.

But, we had determined yesterday to be the day. 

I looked at the bottle carefully. Ullage (the leakage or evaporation of wine over time) indicatiing that the cork had likely provided a tight seal over all these years. Between that and the natural breakdown of the cork, this was going to be a difficult pull.

I inserted the point of the waiter's corkscrew at a sharp angle, but then went straight down the middle of the cork. After about 2 minutes, the threads were fully into the cork and I slowly began the extraction. As I was sure would happen, most of the cork was extracted, but not all of it. That part that was extracted was moist and supple (that's good). I changed corkscrews to one with a finer thread and continued the extraction eventually removing all of the cork.

Immediately, I smelled the wine. There were no signs at all of vinegar or other potentially nasty scents. We let the bottle rest for a little while before decanting about 2/3 of it through a fine mesh filter. Only 3 small pieces of cork were caught by the filter. I was relieved that that was all that I had lost in the extraction process.

Several hours after decanting, we served the wine. I took a first very small taste to ensure we were not serving swill. Each guest on the outside porch that would normally hold far more people was offered a small pour. Most accepted, but a few just don't like red wine.

At first appearance, the wine was brick red with a noticeable ring of browning around the rim. That said, I've seen 20-year old wines that have oxidized more. The slcohol content was low by today's standards, barely exceeding 12%ABV at bottling.

The 1979 Chateau Lafite Rothschild was no longer in its prime. But, the wine had by no means turned. At the age of 41, however, all of the fruit was gone from the palate, although there were hints of anise and black currants, as well as slate and tobacco on the nose.

The tannins remained firm and the wine drank quite smoothly. Even at age 41, it would still have paired well with a dry aged steak seasoned only with a little salt and pepper. The earthiness and remaining tobacco, a bit of black pepper, and some savory notes remained. 

No, this was not the single best wine I have ever had. But, for me, wine is not just about sumptuous enjoyment of every taste, but an experience and sharing that experience with others. So, sharing this at at festive birthday party and getting to talk about that experience with others having tasted from a bottle the likes of which I never expected to was one of those experiences. 

One to remember.

Authors note: There are pictures and video, but I have yet to get them uploaded. After I do, I will re-push to social media and post here.