I had dinner with a small group of friends last night and everybody was asked to bring a bottle of unknown provenence from their cellars to see what surprises lay in store. All of these bottles were purchased from auction houses such as Acker, HDH, WineCommune, etc. All were purchased more than 5 years ago. The reults were stunning.
1990 Meo Camuzet Clos Vougeot-good cork and ullage was great. The wine was cloudy and quite brickish. Tart cherry and slightly rotten mushrooms on the nose. Flavors were quite sharp and acidic with underlying sweet red fruit but quite tannic and sour. D2000 DRC Romanee St. Vivant-Cork showed signs of being cook twice as the cork showed two distinct "rings" where the wine was forced up the neck of the bottle into the cork. Again, the wine was quite cloudy, brick recd in color and a very pungent nose of burnt matchstick and prune juice. The wine was undrinkable.
1996 Chateau Latour-Saturated cork. WIne was dark purple with brickish cast. Very little nose even after 1.5 hours in a decanter. Some cassis and lead pencil but overall it was unremarkable, tannic and quite empty. C-1996 Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou-Good cork with some very slight penetration. The wine was quite dark with very little visable signs of age except for a slight pinkish note at the rim. Nose of blackberries, cassis and a bit of espresso and cedar. Well rounded on the palate, soft resoved tannins, saturated with black fruits and tobacco notes. Years of life ahead. A-
Not scientific by any stretch of the imagination but does make you say...hmmmmmm. Mine was the Ducru.