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PCF Wine appreciation thread. (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter stocky
- Start date
*edit wrong Matt
Mat and Craig could handle it:
-----You Can (Probably) Still Drink the World’s Oldest Bottle of Wine
But it won’t taste good.
BY ANNE EWBANK, (Smithsonian)
https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/germany
FOR THE LAST HUNDRED YEARS, Germany’s Historical Museum of the Palatinate has housed the world’s oldest unopened bottle of wine. But a century is nothing to the Speyer wine bottle, also known as the Römerwein aus Speyer. Its murky contents have sat undisturbed inside clear glass for 1,693 years.
The 1.5 liter bottle has handles shaped like dolphins and was buried in the tomb of a Roman nobleman and noblewoman near today’s city of Speyer. Researchers estimate that it dates to around 325 C.E. When the tomb was excavated in 1867, other wine bottles were found, long since shattered or empty. In earlier eras, Romans cremated the dead. But by the time of the Speyer bottle, Romans laid corpses to rest in sarcophagi with grave goods, which included everyday items, including wine.
The wine inside the Speyer bottle was likely made from local grapes that were planted during Roman rule. Unknown herbs were added as well, perhaps as flavoring or as a preservative. The residue inside, however, is no longer truly wine. Instead, it consists of a solid, dark mass and a milky liquid. Even the survival of that residue is unprecedented. An unusually well-made bottle that stayed airtight over the millennia, a wax seal, and a thick layer of olive oil preserved its contents from totally evaporating. In fact, more oil than wine was poured into the bottle, creating the dense, solid layer visible through the glass.
The contents of the bottle aren’t exactly appetizing. CAROLE RADDATO/(CC BY-SA 2.0)
So, could you drink what’s left?
On a microbiological level, yes: Researchers say it’s likely safe and won’t kill you, although the wine won’t taste good. But you’d first have to wrestle the wine away from the museum, where staff refuse to open the bottle, even for research. According to a local news report, most of the museum staff is too afraid to handle the bottl.e It’s hard to say which would be scarier: dropping the world’s oldest bottle of wine, or actually drinking it.
Lol... I'm a PCF member since 2015 and I only discover this thread now.
This is funny because I'm a winemaker from Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the only chipgeek from this little place (I'm pretty sure).
I have to introduce my little family domain, the Domaine Monpertuis.
For the brief history, my family is growing vines since 1775 and making wines since 1960.
For my part, I'm making wines since 2008.
Here is one of our Cuvée, Secret de Gabriel, 2009 vintage, in tribute to my grandfather, Gabriel Jeune.
This is funny because I'm a winemaker from Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the only chipgeek from this little place (I'm pretty sure).
I have to introduce my little family domain, the Domaine Monpertuis.
For the brief history, my family is growing vines since 1775 and making wines since 1960.
For my part, I'm making wines since 2008.
Here is one of our Cuvée, Secret de Gabriel, 2009 vintage, in tribute to my grandfather, Gabriel Jeune.
Always pleasant to see Châteauneuf's lovers from the other side of the Atlantic.
The Domaine Vieux Donjon is my very next door neighbor. Awesome wines.
Awesome! Going to have to try and get a bottle of this now!
With pleasure !
I’m a sucker for some aged Rhône. Any specific vintage you would recommend?
Mongoose
Full House
Very cool! A lot of delicious wines come out of that region. I’ll be on the lookout for this one!
Here is brief Châteauneuf-du-Pape 20 last years vintages guide. The notes reflect the combination of tasting quality / aging potentiel / weather conditions. Based on my personal experience.
Vintages of the siecle: 2016 & 2005
Ideal weather conditions, perfect maturities, rich and powerful wines. Perfectly balanced. Trully awesome. God's Nectar. The previous vintage at this level was 1989. Aging potential: 30+ years
Wonderful vintages: 2018 & 2007
Excellent maturuties. Strong and well balanced wines. Very rich concentration. Almost perfect.
Aging potential: 25-30 years
Excellent vintages: 2017, 2010, 2009, 2006, 2001 & 1999
Good maturities, some of these wines was hard to taste in their young years. Closed wines but excellent after several years. Aging potential: 20-25 years
Good vintages: 2020, 2015, 2014
Honest weather conditions. Fine and fruity wines. A bit powerlessness.
Aging potential: 15-20 years
Honest vintages: 2021(?), 2019, 2013, 2012, 2004
Capricious weather. Too warm / heat wave (2004). Too cold (2013, 2012). Strong wines, often a bit unbalanced.
Aging potential: 12-15 years
Mediocre vintages: 2011, 2000
Rainy years / flooding. Heterogeneous maturities. Light, smooth and delicate wines. Sometimes ok, but definitely not Châteauneuf style.
Aging potential: 8-12 years
Bad vintage: 2008
Flooding during harvest. Very light and fruity wines.
Very poor harvest.
Aging potential: 5-10 years
Awful vintages: 2003, 2002
Heat wave in 2003, completely unbalanced wines.
Massive Flooding in 2002, diluted wines.
Aging potential: < 8 years
I hope this can help.
Really thinking about going to this.
Mongoose
Full House
Always wanted to go to something like this. If you have an opportunity to go, I say go for it and report back!
Love me some Ridge. Also highly recommend Glasvin glasses.
Little gift from an American friend.
Pretty decent, but rather light-bodied for a Cabernet.
Suitable for everyday pasta sauces, but certainly not for a serious Arabiatta.
I 'm having it now straight, in un-mediterranean Anglo-Saxon mode.
Not as orgasmic as its name (Orgion, meaning orgy) promises, but still a decent everyday wine from the island of Cephalonia
Cephalonia? They all have big heads over there?
C(K)ephali means head indeed. But the suffix -onia is incomprehensible; not indicative of size.
The end of 2021
And the other two bottles
Indyscammer
Flush
Happy New Years peeps!
Had this nice one on my Xmas cruise
Testing out the Coravin I got for Christmas. Thinking the cork on this 40 year old wine may have been a bit dry for it though...
Mongoose
Full House
1982…. How was it? Did it hold up?
It’s pretty tired...drinkable, but not much left. I had the 1983 a few months back, it was much better. Could have just been the bottle. But I have heard the ‘83 P-L was better than the ‘82 before.
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