Hi all, my dad gave me these bottles because he’s starting to reduce the amount of bottles he has in his cellar.
My wife and I love wine, but haven’t drank many older, higher valued wines. We are often in that $15-$20 range.
They have been stored on their side in his wine cellar. He said to leave them upright for a couple days to let the sediment fall to the bottom. Open them, let it breathe for a 30 mins unless decanting, then enjoy.
Are any of these particularly good? I’m very excited to try them all, but would love to know more to appreciate it.
Can’t see in the picture but the brunello is a 2011.
by braaaains
9 Comments
How to appreciate them…
Step 1: invite over some good friends or family
Step 2: decant
Step 3: enjoy
Step 4: report back
A lot of these probably need to be enjoyed sooner than later. Decant, pair with succulent food, and enjoy.
2005 Ramey and 2000 Giscours should be quite good.
I’d open the Turnbull (2003 is not a great vintage) and Ramey and do side by side with a nice meal, same with Giscours and the Pomerol on a different evening. Know nothing of the Brunello, but 2011 is a drink now vintage.
Nice gift from pops.
Wow, Giscours 2000 should be great. That’s a $200ish Bordeaux. Generous dad.
The other Bordeaux (Pomerol) is not so distinguished so I would drink that sooner.
Best advice, ask your dad not strangers on the Internet. He put enough thought into the gift, he would likely enjoy the conversation.
Wow your dad must fucking hate you. This is all garbage that I wouldn’t even feed my garbage disposal (am I doing this right r/wine ?)
Happy to come over and show you in person how to enjoy these wines in person😂
No but seriously, make sure they are served at the “right” temperature, decant-decant-decant and buy some nice wine glasses! Setup a nice Charcuterie board and get some nice cheeses….enjoy!
Really cool stuff!! A few quick things.
Remember that aging wine doesn’t *necessarily* mean it’ll be better- just different. To paint a broad picture, the fruit will appear more dried or soft, the texture will be softer, earthy notes will become more apparent, and in general the wine will feel sort of rounder, more relaxed, sometimes more aromatic and “effortless” if that makes sense. That said, everyone’s palate is different, and many prefer their wines on the younger side when the fruit is more fresh and vivid, or with less aging, like 10 ish years for certain styles rather than 20-25. All this is just to say: expect these to taste *quite* different than you’re used to. If they smell like heavily bruised apples or vinegar, they are a bit past their aging window, but I think most if not all of these will be beautiful. But yeah, these have a lot of age, and it’s perfectly possible also that one or more will feel a little tired or faded.
I would consider buying an inexpensive ah-so opener and practice using it on a handful of less pricey bottles to get used to it. Invaluable in removing fragile, crumbly corks, just in case. If you get a crumbly cork, just carefully strain into a decanter using a cheesecloth.
Speaking of decanting, although you should use one to get rid of sediment, I would not let these sit in the decanter for long periods before drinking. If you smell one and it’s somehow still closed, that’s one thing, but they will not need much air to open up at all- they already have plenty of air via the slow aging process! So older wines will degrade much faster in a decanter. You don’t necessarily have to let the wines breathe for 30 mins as you wrote; every wine is different. If it’s immediately aromatic and expressive on opening, just go for it.
I would consider at least trying one or two (whatever you can comfortably afford) versions of these, or similar wines, from newer vintages first. Turnbull and Ramey for example are not too expensive, around $60 ish for recent vintages of their basic Cabernet and widely available. Unfamiliar with that Brunello producer, but you can find fantastic Brunello for $50/btl and quality is generally very high. Even if Giscours is slightly more pricey you could try a different producer from Margaux. It’ll give y’all a great perspective to better appreciate their aged versions.
Use your decanter for at least 2-3h before drinking them. Once in the glass, do not move it too much. Enjoy with your loved ones eating something very special, by the fire, or watching something that you enjoy on your tv. Come back here and share with us your thoughts