Best bad-storage wine you've had?

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Best bad-storage wine you've had? - 1/8/2014 3:31:39 PM

Chip Merlot

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From: NJ
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The wealth of wine storage threads on this board got me to thinking of two different but great screen scenes: 1, Sideways: Miles stores a 1961 Ch. Cheval Blanc in his apartment closet. After years of climate un-controlled conditions, surely including some heatwaves, he drinks it and it's transcendent (out of a styrofoam cup no less). 2, the TV show Frasier: The brothers are willed a bottle of 1945 Château Pétrus by someone and it's undrinkable because it was stored in the boiler room.

It gets you thinking about how much a bottle of wine can endure. I've rolled the dice with some older bottles in wine stores that go light on the AC and yet they turn out to be great. Most recently, a 2000 Ridge Monte Bello. It was 50-50 in my mind whether it would be awesome or vinegar but it turned out to be awesome, one of the two best wines I've ever had.

So, what's your story - what did you 'rescue' from questionable conditions that ringed your bell?

Or come out of the closet (literally) - who on this board keeps serious wines with their overcoats and vacuum cleaners?

Post #: 1

RE: Best bad-storage wine you've had? - 1/8/2014 3:44:25 PM

champagneinhand

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From: Upstate New York, California born.
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I can tell you that Sherwood Deutsch, who previously owned Century Wine and Liquors, before selling to Nicole Wegman of the Wegman's Grocery chain, held a house filled with wine literally. He had a full, real cellar, but he had bottles shoved into every nook and cranny including every closet, space between furniture and walls in the basement, all protected from Sunlight and relatively stable in temperatures.

The guy has been going back and forth from Bordeaux and the regions of France, Burgundy and Champagne multiple times a year since 1967. He said the best bottle of Bordeaux he has ever enjoyed is always an off vintage Chateau Montrose that was put into a closet and forgot about until almost 50 years after its vintage date. He did say that the 2009 Margaux was the best wine he tasted en premier, at the Chjateau with all the other press types, and critics.

I've gone into his office where he usually has 25 bottles+ that have been opened at various times, up to 10 days, and poured a drink or two and have been surprised. I think many here, especially BT group from last year have seen some awful moldy cork that barely have made it out of the bottle, and the wines were surprisingly good. Somebody has commented he learned to drink really old bordeaux, by pouring through unbleached coffee filters as the corks and sediment were really bad, and still finding pleasure.

Youtube shows 30+ year old wines being pulled from Australia and NZ. Its interesting to see the corks and conditions in the warmer humid areas. Some wines held, other were just crap, but the colors and sediments on video are priceless.

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As I age my finger tips seem to be bigger, my iOS keyboard seems to be less kind, and my need for wearing reading glasses has never been greater. I hope you are forgiving and can read between my lines.

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Post #: 2

RE: Best bad-storage wine you've had? - 1/8/2014 3:59:29 PM

Old Doug

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In 2011 we drank a cheap California cab, 2006 vintage, I believe, that had been stored in a sister-in-law's basement for some years. They had lost power a couple times, and didn't always keep the basement cooled. Atlanta, Georgia, and the wine had probably seen 90 degrees (32º C) once or twice. The wine did not look perfect - there was just a little cloudy haze to it, and it had a cooked or stewed taste, like some caramel nuttiness in it, maybe a little "fruitcake" aspect.

Okay, so something was messed up, but the cork had not been pushed out, and nobody thought it really was bad tasting. Different, but actually pretty darn good, like a curious mixture of red wine, sherry, and perhaps hazelnut liqueur.

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Post #: 3

RE: Best bad-storage wine you've had? - 1/8/2014 4:33:04 PM

mclancy10006

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From: Cape Cod, MA & Bellevue, WA
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Got an '86 Latour as a gift from a friend who at the time had it sitting on the floor in her NYC apartment. She had got upon release and it followed her all over the place never in proper storage.
It was beyond awful when opened!

The other side of this was my folks had an early 90s bottle of nothing special Bordeaux that stood upright in a liquour cabinet for 20+ years. We opened it when the moved and it was fantastic.

-Mark

< Message edited by mclancy10006 -- 1/8/2014 4:34:44 PM >

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Post #: 4

RE: Best bad-storage wine you've had? - 1/8/2014 4:40:10 PM

musedir

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Our good friend wine is a very forgiving dude. Even when we abuse the living shietz out of it.

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RE: Best bad-storage wine you've had? - 1/8/2014 4:59:46 PM

Chip Merlot

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mclancy's post reminds me of an off-site work meeting at my boss's house. We were sitting in her kitchen and I noticed that she had one of those little 6-bottle Lincoln Log-style racks on the counter with the toaster and whatever. It was lunchtime and the sun was streaming in through a sliding glass door, fully lighting up a bottle of Ch. Lynch-Bages. Wonder how that worked out for her....

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RE: Best bad-storage wine you've had? - 1/8/2014 5:05:24 PM

khmark7

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From: Chicago suburbs
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1950 Chateau d'Yquem

Stored in my friend's parent's basement since their wedding. Cork was leaking but this still tasted great.....in 2012!

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RE: Best bad-storage wine you've had? - 1/8/2014 5:10:55 PM

ericindc

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We had a 1989 Château La Nerthe Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée des Cadettes a while back. Bottle was in terrible shape, the shop said the cellar they got it from had bad storage. Pretty amazing for $20.

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Just waiting for my Grand Cru to age.

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RE: Best bad-storage wine you've had? - 1/8/2014 5:36:03 PM

mc2 wines

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1981 Caymus Special Selection. I'd received it almost ten years previously from a friend who'd come to stay with me and gave it as an 'apt stay' present. In that time it had always been on the floor of my NY apt which had a window AC and so was I'm sure never properly temperature controlled. Opened it a few years ago with my dad for his birthday. He was having a particularly rough year, and it felt like a special bottle of wine was warranted. First 10 minutes it was awful, then maybe the alcohol burned off or I don't know what, but it was fantastic. One of my favorite bottles of wine (and I still have the bottle).

Worst was an unknown vintage of Turning Leaf my mom had which had never been properly stored and would probably have been disastrous anyway. I didn't drink it, but another friend did and was sick for days.

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RE: Best bad-storage wine you've had? - 1/8/2014 5:49:56 PM

Sourdough

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The bottle was a 1968 Mondavi Unfined Cabernet Sauvignon. (They used the term Unfined to indicate Reserve for the 1968 vintage.) Bought at the winery probably in 1971 or 2. Survived several moves (in our car). Not terribly stored - always in a house but mostly around 72 to 74. Eventually decided to save it for our 30th wedding anniversary in 1998. Cut the capsule off and barely touched the cork with a corkscrew and it practically fell into the bottle, so not great. Expected the worst. But it was magnificent! Also had a 1968 Beaulieu Reserve in storage and given the cork on the Mondavi we opened it too. Same result with the cork. And it was also perfect. Made for a very pleasant evening! I don't have a clue how much longer they could have lasted but they were both lovely.

< Message edited by Sourdough -- 1/8/2014 5:50:45 PM >

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Post #: 10

RE: Best bad-storage wine you've had? - 1/9/2014 12:59:06 PM

puppetclause

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A 1900 Madeira. Stored properly but opened and left in a cupboard for at least 6 months before I rescued it and took it home. Drank pretty well over the next couple of months (quaffable and interesting).

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RE: Best bad-storage wine you've had? - 1/9/2014 1:04:20 PM

Hollowine

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From: Hood River, OR
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See my post on this from a few years ago

https://www.cellartracker.com/forum/tm.asp?m=167087

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Post #: 12

RE: Best bad-storage wine you've had? - 1/9/2014 2:42:48 PM

musedir

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Just remembered a ill-fated dinner at a patrons home, well over 15 years ago. Dr. M and I were seated when our host asked would I select a bottle from the sideboard in the kitchen and open for our dinner. There were 4-5 bottles lined up, mostly a notch above plonk but in the South you wouldn't say s#+t if you mouth was full of it. So I opened one and the cork snapped in two due to excessive dryness. When I got the bottom half out the tale tell aroma of sour grapes wafted up.

Opened another, then another... Then another. There was nothing working... All soured. So I finally muster up the courage to ask where he got these wines, most of which had 5-7 years on them. When he directed me to his wine storage, which was a secret storage area under the stairwell with 4-5 cases of similar wines. I guessed that the temp in that cubby hole was around 80F.

Thank God for iced tea!

_____________________________

"Fan the sinnking flame of hilarity with the wing of friendship; and pass the rosy wine." Charles Dickens.

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RE: Best bad-storage wine you've had? - 1/9/2014 7:50:17 PM

champagneinhand

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From: Upstate New York, California born.
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quote:

ORIGINAL: mclancy10006

Got an '86 Latour as a gift from a friend who at the time had it sitting on the floor in her NYC apartment. She had got upon release and it followed her all over the place never in proper storage.
It was beyond awful when opened!

The other side of this was my folks had an early 90s bottle of nothing special Bordeaux that stood upright in a liquour cabinet for 20+ years. We opened it when the moved and it was fantastic.

-Mark

My BIL, who's father just past, had some interesting wine he had collected, but left upright on a basement floor for many years, then the BIL put these in the kitchen in the sunlight. We drank an '86 Margaux…which happened to be just horrid, and tannins that you needed a machete to get through. Loads of sediment, too. Bad tasting from bad storage.

an '86 Cakebread Cellars CS, I bought cheap on auction actually drank really well about 3 years back. Surprised, and happy. Didn't stay open very long though.

_____________________________

As I age my finger tips seem to be bigger, my iOS keyboard seems to be less kind, and my need for wearing reading glasses has never been greater. I hope you are forgiving and can read between my lines.

(in reply to mclancy10006)

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RE: Best bad-storage wine you've had? - 1/14/2014 4:59:30 AM

asajoseph

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From: Sydney, Australia
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Years before I actually got 'into' wine, I decided that I quite liked the idea of having a small wine 'cellar'. I bought, over a long period, about 20-30 odd bottles from various supermarkets, wine merchants, and holidays, without ever really knowing what I was buying and basically assuming that price = quality = longevity.

I never even really drank wine all that often in those days - I was in my early 20s, a year or two out of university, and much fonder of cheap supermarket lager!

When I moved house about 4 years ago, I went through this 'cellar' and reviewed what I'd bought - most of it was well past its 'recommended' drinking window, but it was also largely comprised of grapes / wines that could, in theory, age (think Chateauneuf du Pape, Rioja, a Crozes Hermitage etc). It was stored in a 'cupboard under the stairs', despite me having an underground cellar in my flat which would, in hindsight, have been absolutely ideal. I don't suppose it was the worst place to put it - a steady cool(ish) temperature, moderate humidity, it should have been ok in there.

I have drunk most of it over the last couple of years (all at 10+ years old), and most of it lasted the test of time fairly well, however one wine in particular really stands out in my memory as, possibly, one of the best tasting experiences I've ever had - a Jaboulet Syrah from Saint Joseph in the Rhone valley, the 2003 'Grand Pompee', was rich, bold, balanced and still remarkably fruity, despite being pretty much unavailable in the market by the time I drank it.

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RE: Best bad-storage wine you've had? - 1/14/2014 5:06:27 AM

asajoseph

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From: Sydney, Australia
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This thread also reminds me of my father-in-law (to be)'s wine 'cellar', that he keeps in the underground garage at his Sydney appartment. The temperature is constant, but far too warm for reliable wine storage.

Strangely, he's fairly keen on his wine, and has a large collection of pretty good, mostly Australian Shiraz from the 2000s, but for some reason he seems to have given absolutely no through to cellaring it properly. He has a fair few bottles that he collected when he was a lot younger, particularly from the 1960 vintage (I'm not quite sure what significance that holds for him). The jewel of the collection is 2 bottles of 1960 Angelus which, properly stored, I imagine would be worth something like £200 each. However, as with all of his older wine collection (anything before 2000 really), the wines show signs of serious seepage through the cork, and on closer inspection the fill level is around the low shoulder or below.

Chances are these wines are completely ruined, though he seems reluctant to open them or throw them out!

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RE: Best bad-storage wine you've had? - 1/14/2014 9:11:12 AM

mqvn

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From: West Seattle, WA
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My friend received a double magnum of some 1997 Napa Cab as a gift from a co-worker a few years back. His co-worker had opened his and it was heat-damaged, and then he asked my friend if he wanted something else instead. My buddy told him not to worry about it. I was visiting, and we opened it expecting it to taste cooked. Instead, it was actually amazing. Except that we had opened it on a Monday night. So we started calling all these people over to come have a glass of wine with us. Nobody really wanted to come because we had opened it so late, maybe around 8pm on a work night. It took us 3 days to finish it between the two of us, but it was some awesome wine.

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RE: Best bad-storage wine you've had? - 1/14/2014 1:14:07 PM

GalvezGuy

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I left a bottle of 2005 Bodegas y Viñedos de Murcia Jumilla Pico Madama out in the garage. It spend an entire summer in 90+ temps. The wine was pretty damn good. I also had a 1999 Allegrini Palazzo della Torre Veronese IGT that I left with mom, it spent two years in a cabinet above her stove. However the wine showed very well for a 13 year old bottle that had two years of bad mojo.

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