Continuing with our trials with old bottles being sold in sales, opened a bottle of 1979 Mercurey (Chateau Philippe-le-Hardi of Santenay) the other day.
The only reason we bought it even though one says that Mercurey should be drunk within 5 years at the maximum was that at 8 Euros a bottle, it sounded like a fun experiment.
Clear, pale ruby pink in colour. Normal-to-heavy viscosity.
Upon opening the bottle, the first pour had no aroma whatsoever. Well, it was quite cool in our kitchen (where the bottle stood for a day to help the siginificant amount of sediment settle) and the pour had stayed bottled for longer than I could do my own hair.
So we decided to pour half into a decanter for 15 minutes and warmed the poured glass with our palms and aggressive swirling. That coaxed some pleasant fruit smell (cherry) with a earthy undertone.
We finished preparing the dinner and poured a couple of glasses. It was now that the appeal of wine hit us. Attractive aroma of cherries and mango (!) with plenty of earth.
Medium-to-full-bodied flavour consistent with the aroma. Very balanced acidity (more in the MSR-Riesling-mode than typical Burgundy) and soft earthy tannins in the aftertaste.
All-in-all a very fine wine with a rich nose and flavour, even at this age.
Went very, very well with Dorade poached in herbs.
I wish I had bought a few more bottles in the sale.
Cheers