Quote from: Carnage on January 31, 2025, 08:02:39 PMWine, how long does it last? A mate turned up with a box (six bottles, not a carton like), it was only after he'd left that I noted the label said 2006. The labels are a bit manky, like they been left somewhere for an extended period, which they obviously had. Just wondering would it still be alright? Corked bottles.

I don't want to ask him as it'd come across as ungrateful. He's been in Hong Kong for the last 2½ years, might have had them stashed in his house here. I'm guessing he picked them up on his way to mine.

I know that it can last for decades if properly stored, I don't think this is anything that flash though.

Once the wine was in contact with the cork during storage and the ambient temperature didn't spike or crash too much, then there's no reason that it wouldn't be drinkable.

Obviously, most supermarket wines aren't intended to be kept for much longer than the spin home with them. Even some of the dearer wines that you'd buy from O'Brien's or whatever are generally meant to be drank (drunk?) within two or three years.

If it smells musty/mouldy/like vinegar - I'd leave it off.

Why is it that older wine is often more expensive, excuse my ignorance. My mother threw out about 5 bottles of wine before Christmas cos a neighbour said it only lasts a couple of years. Younger me would have thrown her into a home if I'd witnessed wine being thrown out like that.

Quote from: Emphyrio on February 04, 2025, 01:50:55 PMWhy is it that older wine is often more expensive, excuse my ignorance. My mother threw out about 5 bottles of wine before Christmas cos a neighbour said it only lasts a couple of years. Younger me would have thrown her into a home if I'd witnessed wine being thrown out like that.

 :laugh:

Did she chuck them without opening them?!

It's a bit of a rabbit-hole to go down and I'm no expert but, from what I've learned over the years - the main things that will influence a wine's longevity would be tannic content, sugar residues and grape quality.

Tannins will (or at least should) mellow and give more life to a wine as it ages.

The grapes need to be at a certain... eh... ripeness, harvested at just the right time etc. and come from a place where the weather has been just right for that harvest. Then, as the picking season continues, and the grape quality decreases, so does the level of the wine etc.

Sugar is important as a preservative. For example - to put this in terms that I am definitely more familiar with - if you have an high ABV imperial stout or ale, then the sugar is what gave that beer it's volume strength in the first place and now will mean that it can be aged (in a bottle, not a can)- most of your flavour profile is coming from the malt bill and the adjuncts with only minor hop inclusion (like Fuggles for example) for minor beer bitterness.

This isn't true of high-alcohol % IPAs, DIPAs and stuff though - you're better off not aging them but rather drinking them as fresh as possible (again this is what I've learned or do - your mileage may vary depending on what kind of pisshead you are) because the hops will fade out of them and leave you with strong sugary water/lunatic soup.

Oddly though - and I don't know why - LOWER % ABV wines store better for long periods than high volume vino and are more sought after.

We could be at this all day, I've read articles about the quality/weight of glass and cork used, gentle and periodic oxidisation (which would kill a beer immediately), storage techniques, terroir yada yada yada.

She didn't even test them or, better still, got me to test them.

It all seems very confusing but at least you did a lot of legwork investigation which now means I don't have to, so fair play!

I'm just going to pretend they had all turned to vinegar and she was right to throw them out. I don't think my conscience would be able for the alternative.

Quote from: Emphyrio on February 04, 2025, 03:08:43 PMShe didn't even test them or, better still, got me to test them.

It all seems very confusing but at least you did a lot of legwork investigation which now means I don't have to, so fair play!

I'm just going to pretend they had all turned to vinegar and she was right to throw them out. I don't think my conscience would be able for the alternative.

My rule with all of this is simple - does it taste nice? If it does, then drink it.

There are some miraculous wines available for less than €15 (even if the government are trying to ruin it for us).

If you have a dedicated wine shop near you - i.e. not a supermarket - go there, you'll get a better bottle for the same sort of money spent.

 

Ah I wouldn't be a wine expert or anything like it. Cheap Aldi stuff is fine for the likes of me. I just hate the idea of decent wine being fucked out. I'm happier experimenting with craft beers these days anyway.

Yellowtail Jammy Red Roo would turn ya into an alco, bejaysus.

The only Yellowtail I've tasted was muck. Can't remember what it was but I'll be avoiding the brand anyway.

Quote from: StoutAndAle on February 04, 2025, 01:45:59 PM
Quote from: Carnage on January 31, 2025, 08:02:39 PMWine, how long does it last? A mate turned up with a box (six bottles, not a carton like), it was only after he'd left that I noted the label said 2006. The labels are a bit manky, like they been left somewhere for an extended period, which they obviously had. Just wondering would it still be alright? Corked bottles.

I don't want to ask him as it'd come across as ungrateful. He's been in Hong Kong for the last 2½ years, might have had them stashed in his house here. I'm guessing he picked them up on his way to mine.

I know that it can last for decades if properly stored, I don't think this is anything that flash though.

Once the wine was in contact with the cork during storage and the ambient temperature didn't spike or crash too much, then there's no reason that it wouldn't be drinkable.

Obviously, most supermarket wines aren't intended to be kept for much longer than the spin home with them. Even some of the dearer wines that you'd buy from O'Brien's or whatever are generally meant to be drank (drunk?) within two or three years.

If it smells musty/mouldy/like vinegar - I'd leave it off.

I gave it a go later that night, it was OK. It passed the smell test, I let it breathe for a while before pouring a glass, tasted a tad bitter but not overly so, it's certainly drinkable. The cork crumbled as I was removing it (though thankfully I avoided corking the bottle) which leads me to believe that it was stored upright.

I'm still standing anyway and haven't spent any longer than usual on the toilet so we'll see how it goes from here.

I should probably store the rest on its side 'til I get to it. 🤔

Quote from: Carnage on February 04, 2025, 04:06:54 PMI gave it a go later that night, it was OK. It passed the smell test, I let it breathe for a while before pouring a glass, tasted a tad bitter but not overly so, it's certainly drinkable. The cork crumbled as I was removing it (though thankfully I avoided corking the bottle) which leads me to believe that it was stored upright.

I'm still standing anyway and haven't spent any longer than usual on the toilet so we'll see how it goes from here.

I should probably store the rest on its side 'til I get to it. 🤔

That's good to hear. Most of the time, you'll be grand.

Corking the bottle doesn't actually mean bits of cork going into the wine. It's more that the contents which are essentially alive have reacted badly with the cork which was also alive. It can also be shorthand for an infection that found its way into the wine before the cork was put in place.

Best way to avoid splitting a wine cork, if in doubt, is to run a little bit of water on it and then use a waiter's key type of corkscrew (a 2-step one if you can) to get it out.

I have one of those alright, I shall note that for the next one, thanks for the tip of wetting the cork too.

Never knew that about corking (I know little about wine other than what I like), I assume the smell/taste test would let you know it it'd happened?

Quote from: Carnage on February 04, 2025, 04:28:55 PMI assume the smell/taste test would let you know it it'd happened?

Yeah, any seasoned wine drinker would know that something was off after a waft or a few tentative sips.

Unless it's one of those natural, low intervention wines that are en vogue currently - in which case all bets are off and I have no idea if that wine is good, bad, corked or whatever.

See also sour beers - I always say that if you were handed a beer that smelled like a sour/gose 15 years ago that you'd be telling the barman to pour you a different pint and clean his fucking lines.

I washed out the first bottle earlier, quite a bit of sediment came through - to be expected after 18 odd years, I imagine. Still, it was grand overall. Not spectacular, as I said there was a bit of a tang off it but it was drinkable.

I've set the other bottles on their sides, I'll leave them for a while to see if the corks soften.