buying a 40 y/o bottle of wine

Once you get to 40 years the only wine you could probably be absolutely certain is in top shape (excepting of course the possibility of cork taint) is Madeira.A Colheita port is probably next safest.

For dry wines, '66 was a pretty good year in Medoc (left bank of Bordeaux), and many are drinking nicely- Montrose, LLC, etc. We recently had a '66 Ducru for a friend's 40th, nice wine. It ws $90 at Premiercru.net, I see they have it at $120 now. But there is always risk with older wines, especially dry ones.

Good luck. If you do f> My wife really loves wine, and her 40th birthday is just around the

Once you get to 40 years the only wine you could probably be absolutely certain is in top shape (excepting of course the possibility of cork taint) is Madeira.A Colheita port is probably next safest.

For dry wines, '66 was a pretty good year in Medoc (left bank of Bordeaux), and many are drinking nicely- Montrose, LLC, etc. We recently had a '66 Ducru for a friend's 40th, nice wine. It ws $90 at Premiercru.net, I see they have it at $120 now. But there is always risk with older wines, especially dry ones.

Good luck. If you do f> My wife really loves wine, and her 40th birthday is just around the

You could definitely go with a grand vin de bordeaux / bordeaux superieur. A St Emilion Grand Cru seems appropriate, Chateau Pavie has excellent bottles in the 60-70 decade. Here are some articles about chateau Pavie and St-emilion:

Buy chateau Pavie1966 Here:

And in a more generalistic way, some very basic information about knowing wine that are aging well:

Nguma Monene

wrote:

Beware — the wine this poster is talking about is actually a Saint-Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé B; that is to say at the top end of the classification range within the Grand Cru Appellation. I would hesitate long and hard before buying a Grand Cru Saint-Emilion of this age — and it would have to be very cheap to justify the risk.

I agree that Premier Grands Crus Classés as well as some of the Grands

Crus Classés would be lovely if they have been carefully stored. For instance if you can find a Ch. Soutard of that age, you will again do well in all probability — I shared a wonderful bottle of 53 Soutard two or three years ago but that was at the Chateau where it had obviously had ideal storage and had never travelled.

Ch. Pavie was very good in the 60‘s, before it fell into bad ways of one sort or another. Ch. Figeac is always good value in my view and keeps well.

Whatever you look at it is worth remembering that at this age it really does all depend both on original quality and storage. (Really good quality wines should have had the best quality corks too.) Refer to the classic writers for the quality — remembering to use the editions published in the late ‘60‘s and/or early 70s; things change in the wine world. Check that nearly all the wine is in the bottle - i.e. that the wine level is not much, if at all, below what you would expect from a much younger bottle and there is no obvious signs of leakage — you don‘t want bad air in place of good wine.

Good hunting

Tim

Bought a Kron 66 Colheita recently. Wonderful stuff.

You can also get rent bottlings of very old Vin Doux Naturel from Banyuls and Rasteau. Similar principle to Coheita Port - many years in cask and recent bottling - but lower in alcohol. Recently tried a Banyuls Grand Cru 1947.

All around £50-60 in the UK.

Pointless. Just get a nice bottle of wine. Most wines are going to be well past their peak at age 40, and those that don't are going to be quite expensive. The wine novice thends to equate ageability with quality. This is far from the case. A port might be a good possibility.

The '66 Krohn was one of the bottles we were eying for friend's birthday before we went with a Ducru to drink with him and a LLC for him to have as a present. Glad to hear it's good. If Port is a possibility the OP might consider that (assuming he is in US) the Krohn- Premier Cru has for I think $80. They also have one bottle of the 1966 Ducru for $125 - I paid $90, but my bottle was VHS (tasted fine), this one is listed as "perfect condition."

Thanks for raising that point and sorry i wasn't clear enough about conservation. Tim's right. Proper care and storage is essential for any wine that age, and Chateau Pavie, unfortunately like many bordeaux started turning their back away from high quality these past three decades. (Don't get me wrong, there are still a good quantity of exceptional bordeaux nowadays).

How do you ever get a woman to admit that it is her 40th birthday? Mine has been "29" for as long as I can remember. ;-)

Godzilla

Oops. Yes, search for "Krohn" (or "Wiese & Krohn") if you want to find the wine. In my case I just wanted a good wine rather than looking for something special for an anniversary, and understood that

a far better idea is to buy a $40 bottle!

Or better still, a case of $40 wine of a type that will age well and drink a bottle on every Birthday!

pk

Thanks for the advice everyone. I noted that several people recommended port, unfortunately that is the one wine she really doesn't like. Her favorite is pinot noir, but I understand that doesn't age very well so I haven't even looked for that.

I noted a couple people basically said "don't bother." I expected more of these, actually, since I know how much neophytes looking for old wine annoy the connoisseurs. Despite that advice, I'll probably continue looking for a good 40 y/o bottle of wine. It's the age that's important for the birthday in this case. Neither my wife or I are experts at wine tasting. A glass many of you might spit out might cause both of us to think, "Eh, your average bottle of red wine." As long as it hasn't turned completely undrinkable, she'll appreciate the thought the most.

I'll be glad to make up the deficit between your expectations and the results here by again reminding you that very few wines will be actually drinkable at that age. It is a myth that most wine can age a very long time. Very few wines actually have that kind of longevity.

Rob wrote in news:07hfk2lprqcsssv8e9rtmtjf8v2sb405jm@

I think you misread the advice, the forget it is more "it won't be worth the cost, read most of us wouldn't go to the hassle as younger wine is available that is more dependable in terms of its readiness to drink.

There are several folks here who do appreciate older wines but by and large most are looking for good value and great quality (the elusive quest!) You biggest problem is that it is hard to be sure that you are getting good value. Go for it just keep your expectations in check. It is better to be wowed than underwhelmed!

So he's asking for one that does. They are a small percentage of wines produced, but there are enough to keep us busy. Cool it UC...

Too bad about the Port, just because that is the safest (except Madeira, even more an oddball taste for many people).

Pinot Noir can age well (at least in Burgundy, an ok mid-70s PN was my oldest New World). But usually only the top wines, and then you're really getting into big bucks. I don't think '66 is considered a great year in Burgundy (maybe Cwdjryx can chime in), although I did see very positive comments I believe on some recent Leroy library '66 releases. But we're probably talking $300-500.

I'd stick to Left Bank Bordeaux, personally. For $125-175 you can find Ducru, various Leovilles, etc. at various dependable outlets. I'd personally be a little wary of most Right Bank wines except noted agers like Ausone, Cheval Blanc, Soutard, Figeac. If you don't have winesearcher pro feel free to email me & I'll send you some options.

cheers!

There are a number of shops in the US that have older vintages which are usually well stored. A copy of Broadbent's tome on wines he's tasted would work if you found something. There are vintage dated Armignacs around & also sweet whites from the Loire.

Rob wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

I understand that 1966 was a very good year for Burgandy. The trouble is that the wines that are still good are going to be *very* expensive.

Some Sauternes would still be very good, again *very* expensive.

The premium German wines could still be holding. Probably expensive.

From Italy, Gaja & Barolo could still be at or near their peak. Possibly the best bet price/quality wise.

I looked at winecommune, typed in 1966 as a search item, and Gaja and Barolo, and a Margeau, were the most reasonably priced, but the best wines?????

As others have warned, at that age it's a crapshoot.