Bottle of wine found in a cupboard.

No takers? Did I answer my own question or something?

It isn't that old, but has an excellent chance of poor storage. There is only one way to tell what you have, open and drink Report back pleas.

Also please note that this is not BELAIR a St. Emilion but a graves with a similar name albeit with a -.

Is this red? Don't know estate. But

1) Other than maybe Chantegrive, most Graves (not counting Pessac- Leognans) tend to be for early drinking, maybe 3-5 years after release. 2) 1997 is an early maturing vintage. Most of the big Medocs are entering maturity (and in a few cases, are on downslide) 3) The above assumes good storage.

I'd open, hope for the best,but be prepared with a backup bottle. Good luck!

Thanks for all the replies to my thread bump. I'll do my best on TN after I coerce them to open it, but I'm sorta new at all the fancy words and things used to described wines. Can you guys give me some hints or resources to look at to help me along in my quest or give me some hints as to what to do?

Everyone has their strengths in this even if they aren't aware. most of us are pretty good at determining color, the words to describe the color may change but we can tell if there is any brown in a red wine(usually a sign of age and not good, but if just a tinge on the fringe a sign of something thatis just right) white wines have a variety of color as well with darker being usually not good, unless we are looking at sweet wines where the darker color may be an indication of good things.

Nose. You have me there, what do YOU smell that is all that matters, and is it, for you, a good thing or not?

Taste, mouth feel is the most important thing to me, I really like the way wine feels in the mouth, minerally flavors, like hard fresh water, in a Chablis, coupled with the acidity (think about it and you will see a contradiction, hard water is alkaline and acid is . . . well acid, but in the wine these sensations exist)

Tannins on the finish give a pucker feel, some elements on the finish are lingering taste sensations, like mint. However you think of them say it. It wasn't a port who decided that Sancerre was best when it had a distinct note of "cat's pee"

I know, but those with more trained senses and those that have a wider experience with wines will be able to describe more accurately than a novice like myself. So I ask the advise of you fine folks to educate me the best you can by virtual means via the net.

I don't take it very hard being called dim. We tell people the tea group the same thing when they ask such questions. It's just that the wine market is so unlike the tea market in the fact it's much more mature. Finer grade teas are just starting to leave China's borders and the "experts" before were only novices. Another topic.

Care for any more specific advise, or have any resources? Although the FAQ is a good beginning, it assumes a bit more knowledge than beginner to fully be able to understand all of the topics.

Ok, well, I took my bottle opener over and was able to get into the bottle without too much cork falling in. Over all, it was a relatively disappointing experience because I think the wine had been exposed to light, varying temperatures, and other poor storage conditions.

My first attempt at notes, so don't laugh too much.

Nose: tar, dirty rags, slightly sweet in a rotten fruit sort of way. I wouldn't describe it as pleasant at all.

The actual wine was rather thin and watery and I think was way past it's prime; if it was indeed '97 instead of some grape juice, forgery. The initial sensation I got was also not at all positive. I got distinct leathery sensations with that same old-fruit tang. The finish was weak and didn't have much lingering flavor.

Did not taste much different from most 10USD bottles that I've had here and there.

snip/

I know this wine, we have a house in France and it is on all the supermarket shelves, and bought young for just a few euros. A 1997 would now be worth about 15 euros. Provided that the conditions were good for storage, i.e. temperature not fluctuatiing, stored to keep the cork wet etc. etc., it should be o.k. to drink. It won't be exceptional and undoubtedly it will have changed but it may not be for the better, it's a wine that should be recorked every 10 years but in my husband's opinion (the red wine drinker) it is not a wine that he would want to put down anyway.

I say open it, leave it in the bottle in the kitchen for an hour or so and then have a quick smell, I have a tasting cup and the smell from that usually will be a good indication of whether it will be good enough to drink and if not, it will make a good beef stew!

Judith

I found a roll of film that expired in 1982 in my drawer. Is it any good?

that was beneath you UC, we know that you have particular taste in wine, but if someone found a 1997 Vino Nobile would you have responded the same way? I think not.

No, the point is there's no way of telling its condition. I would say the same about any wine "found in a cupboard".