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Storage Conditions and possibile drinkablilty

I have six bottles of wine

1986 Rutherford Hill Cabernet Napa Valley 1986 Kendall Jackson Vinters Reserve California Cabernet Sauvignon 1987 Simi Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley 1985 Vichon Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 1987 Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1980 Chateau Ste Michelle Washington Merlot

I am a not a very knowledgeable wine drinker, but I do love good reds. From my readings of this newsgroup I can surmise that even if stored properly these wines would not be worth a lot of money and would be best to drink.

These wines have been kept on their sides out of the light in a first floor closet in an air conditioned house in the Piedmont region of NC from purchase in early 1992 to 1999. From 2000 to present they have been kept in an undergound basement. I would assume the temperature these wines have endured has never been much above 72F and much below

60F. The underground basement had a bit too much humidity and there appears to be some mold on some of the labels.

With that being said, and assuming that the wines were not already damaged when purchased in 1992, should any of these wines remain drinkable? I assume the 1980 Merlot is history. What about the others?

Thanks,

Brent

Reply to
Brent Fidler
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You may get some pleasant surprises - the 87s particularly may have survived whatever history they've had.

Pop the corks and tell us what you find.

Reply to
Bill Spohn

Brent: I'd hazzard you are right about the '80 Merlot...a little past it's peak.... All the others, however, could be real gems. Do, please give us feedback when you uncork...

Enjoy Mathew

Reply to
Mathew Kagis

Should I continue to hold any of these or should I drink them all immediately?

Brent

Reply to
Brent Fidler

I just pulled the cork on the '86 Kendall Jackson. The cork was a little dry but I was able to remove it whole.

I am ultimately surprised at the wine! I was expecting some undrinkable swill especially after having the cork crumble. But to my surprise, I have never tasted any Kendal Jackson with such luscious smoothness. It doesn't have quite the body and fullness that I normally associate with Cabs. Could this be due to the aging?

Regardless, I am really enjoying this wine. The age seems to have mellowed and quite possibly significantly improved this wine.

I am really looking forward to trying the others.

Brent

Reply to
Brent Fidler

(silence)

Guess what!! You've just learned why "us Brits" like wines that are properly aged.

yes, almost certainly. As it ages, wine tends to lose acidity and tannin, which can make it more agreeable to drink. But it also tends to convert fruit for complexity. In France they distinguish between the primary flavours (fruit, freshness), followed by secondary and tertiary flavours. The fruit is reduced, but you get more and more complexity and (IMO) interest.

When the wine gets TOO old, it thins out, and has less and less flavour. (Usually).

Absolutely.

Just one word of warning. Not all Cabs are designed for aging, and if there's not much fruit there to start with, you won't get much interest later.

All the Best Ian Hoare (About to visit Arrowood today).

Reply to
john shaw

I opened the 87 Simi and the 85 Vichon for Thanksgiving. The 87 Simi was not very good. It had a pretty unpleasant aftertaste but it wasn't as undrinkable as the 85 Vichon. That had a very acidic taste- close to rotten vinegar?

I also opened the 80 Chateau St. Michelle Merlot, but I expected that to be horrible since it was much too old for a Merlot (so I am told). Indeed it was terrible.

Anyway, I am hoping for better things with the rest of the bottles. I guess this proves that despite decent storage conditions, you just don't know what has happened to the wine before you bought it.

Reply to
Brent Fidler

Also, old bottles of a given wine display great bottle variation. You may experience this if you have duplicate bottles.

Tom Schellberg

Reply to
Xyzsch

I tried the rest of the wines during Thanksgiving.

86 Rutherford Hill - sour and undrinkable 87 Simi - musty and undrinkable 85 Vichon - vinegar 87 Mondavi - almost drinkable but still musty 80 Chateau Ste Michelle Merlot - one smell was all it took- yuck.

So it is strange that the Kendall Jackson was the only wine to survive the years.

Reply to
brentfid

The ability to age is not always an indicator of quality but may indicate a large amount of preservatives. I visited K-J a number of years ago and mentioned to my wife that it reminded me more of a chemical plant than a winery. Bi!!

Reply to
RV WRLee

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