Mouton Rothschild 1982

You'd have to go always to screw up an 1982 Mouton. I say open the sucker soon. Normally it is a 40+ year wine but as you've indicated it has been exposed to less than ideal temperatures. AS long as the temperature has not varied suddenly, but gradually, I'm sure it is still very good. But why wait???? If its bad you've eliminated years of stressful thinking, should I open it now. If its the near perfect wine it was in 1988 when I last had it, you can always refinance and buy another. If you don't have enough friends to share it with you, I'm sure afw has a few volunteers. As for me I prefer the 82 Marguax, Trotonoy, Petrus and LaTour but that's just a quibble.......

Don't be bashful, I've found that this group welcomes most everyone (assuming it's not a troll -:) and is more than happy to share experiences, opinions, etc. freely. After all, we all started sometime.... I've been at it not too much longer than you (about 8 years) and I too feel that I still have much to learn and this is a great place for it.

As was pointed out in another post, assuming that these temperature changes have occurred gradually rather than suddenly, this shouldn't hurt the wine. The higher the temperature (to a point) the shorter the wine will live. Consider that in the US, many fine wine shops keep stuff for long periods of time in less than ideal conditions....

I would be concerned about the humidity that the wine was stored in. Based on the comment that the cork didn't appear to have pushed out would indicate that probably the temperature changes have been gradual. I would also think that the humidity has been okay, unless the dried stuff on top of the cork is dark purple which would indicate that the wine has seeped and is probably bad (oxidized). If it's a light-medium green (ala moldy) then the humidity has probably been okay.

As you say, the proof is in the pudding. If it were me, I'd probably look to be opening this sooner rather than later. Find a good excuse, someone to share it with and a reserve bottle (just in case) and let 'er rip. Of course, we will all be expecting a follow-up report with the outcome.

Cheers, Gary

Hey Jonathon

They're not "our" disccussions.

As for the Mouton - high shoulder is not unusual, but not wonderful for a 20 yr wine. A lot of wine out and a lot of O2 in as the temperature varies. I'd take Joseph's advice and drink it soon.

Rob

It has been said that if you have a great bottle of fine wine all that you have is a bottle of wine, but if you open it with friends and family you will have memories that will last far longer than the wine.

When asked what the perfect number would be for a dinner party, oil billionaire Calouste Gulbenkian replied, "Two. Myself and a head waiter."

Sad.

Mike Tommasi, Six Fours, France email link

Sure it was Calouste, not Nubar? The latter seems much more probable (at least to me).

M

serious

I bought two cases of 1982 Mouton on release and have stored them a

55F. The bottles still have a high neck fill so I haven't lost much wine over the years to evaporation. I've drank one case so far over the years and the wine is starting to show a fair amount of maturity. The wine is clearing at the rim and has began to show a slight amount of bricking. The flavors are maturing and I would open and drink the bottle you have sometime sooner than later. The amount of tannin won't protect the wine from improper storage and it sounds like it has lost a fair amount of volume over the years.

Thanks to all of you for your great responses. You've convinced me to open the bottle tonight! My neighbors (the couple who gave me the bottle) will be coming over tonight and I will server Epoisse (Burgundian cheese) with some toasted nuts (pine-nuts, slivered almonds, and pecans) and a fresh baguette.

I am planning on decanting the wine about 45 minutes before serving. Does that sound right?

May I request your input on the following question?:

Should I start with a warm-up wine, say a different Bordeaux, and then enjoy the Mouton Rothschild, or just launch straight into the main event?

Thanks again to Joseph, Sibeer, Coppy Littlehouse, Mike T., Michael P, CabFan, Tom, and Bi.

Final report:

Sometimes it is better to have your cake than to eat it. Alas, the cork crumbled, the wine was worse than vinegar and my backup bottle (a 1982 BV Cab Reserve) suffered from a similar cork ailment. For four days I owned, at least is theory, one of the world's most excellent wines!

On the bright side, I had my neighbors over for a lovely evening and we shared a bottle of 1982 Gruaud Larose, a BV Cabernet 1994, cheese, chocolate and fruit. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed excellent conversation. As Sibeer wisely said, it is the sharing and not the wine that is the lasting memory.

Thanks again to you all for your comments...

Jonathan

J> Hello Everyone,

Crumbling corks are nothing too unusual, but what does "worse than vinegar" mean? Was it oxidized (Port-like), corked (moldy smelling), suffering from volatile acidity (sharp, vinegar-like smell) or cooked (stewed fruit and thin flavors)? None of the above? It does actually take some work to kill a bottle of a tannic red wine, so your comment is a bit surprising to me.

How was the Gruaud-Larose? It may not have received quite as much hype as the Mouton, but was still an awesome wine in '82. It should be just now reaching maturity (and I own but a single bottle, dammit!).

Mark Lipton

It was badly oxidized -- "Port-like" would be a generous description! The cork was so soft that the blade of the corkscrew was able to glide through it efforlessly but could not grip onto any cork material on the way back out.

Wierdly enough, my 1982 BV Reserve did exactly the same thing even though the cork appeared to be the proper color and was dry. That wine too suffered from severe oxidation. I purchased it from a reputable wine dealer over the Internet and let it sit in my cellar for a few months on its side. There was a label that read, "from a private cellar" on it so I was pretty disappointed.

The Gruaud-Larose was pretty good. The bouquet was very nice with good complexity with nice eucalyptus and mint aromas. Perhaps this is a function of excellent integration of the oak. The body was a bit thin, and I could not notice much, if any fruit, but it was not overly acidic. There were no sharp edges.

I found the wine G-L quite pleasant but not on par with some of the good Bordeauxs that I have had. I recently enjoyed a really excellent '88 Bechyville that had held up very well. Needless to say, your bottle might be alot better given that the one that I tried was stored along side the Mouton Rothschilds (3 bottles!) that deteriorated so badly.

Why do you suppose the G-L held up so much better the the M-Rs?