Will these have survived?

By pure co-incidence this weekend I spoke to two different people both of whom had old wines kicking about and both of whom were wondering whether they were still drinkable. My answer to both was "I doubt it" but I thought I'd ask more seasoned souls before writing them off completely.

Neither has been well stored, although neither have they been appalingly badly treated (i.e. kept next to an oven or such).

The first is a 10 year old Pinot Gris from AC Alsace. AFAIK Pinot Gris isn't acid enough to survive ten years, but I suppose there's an outside chance.

The second is a French red dating from 1959! The friend in question found it in his attic when he moved in to a new house and is completely convinced it's going to be amazing. I scoffed at this notion until I noticed it was AC Burgandy. It's labeled as "Grand Vin de Bourgogne" which I assume is just a made up title to substitute for the fact it's not 1er or Grand Cru. I still don't think it's going to be up to much, but since it's Burgandy, you never know ...

It is difficult to give an good answer on this without more detailed information on producer and cuvée.

A 10 year old Alsatian Pinot Gris from a good producer, e.g. Weinbach or Zind-Humbrecht, could still be fine, particularly if it is Vendanges Tardives or SGN. Two words of warning, however. First, if 10 years old is precise and means 1997, the wines of that year were very low in acidity and often flabby. Second, with many Alsatian producers you do not know whether the wine is dry, demi-sec or sweet until you pull the cork.

1959 was a great year in Burgundy but the chances are that a generic Bourgogne from that year will have gone off even if well stored (an attic is very unsuitable because usually subject to extreme temperature variations). However, you never know until you open the bottle. I have had some extraordinarily vigorous and fine 1949 generic village burgundies from an unknown producer, though admittedly well stored.

I think that your friends should try the bottles with no great expectations, with a known sound bottle in reserve. They may be pleasantly surprised.

[Jenise]

I think that your friends should try the bottles with no great expectations, with a known sound bottle in reserve. They may be pleasantly surprised.

Another factor: the taste of old, old wines is something of an acquired taste. A very old wine that might still show something appealing to someone who understands or prefers geriatric wines might be completely lost on someone whose experience is limited to young wine. IOW, "still good" could be entirely an eye-of-the-beholder thing.

The friend in question found it in his attic when he moved in to a new house and is completely convinced it's going to be amazing.

I don't know what part of the "UK" you're in [I imagine that John o'Groats is a little cooler than Land's End], but here in the United States, an "attic" gets to be about 125°F to 150°F in the summertime.

A single afternoon - not to mention 40+ years - of those kinds of temperatures might not have left much in the bottle.

You might look to see whether there's been any seepage - whether at some point the heat had forced the wine to expand out around the cork and leak out onto the bottle [with seepage, you might see a sticky residue oozing out of the tinfoil, or stains as the wine dripped down the label].

Also, you'd want to look at "ullage" - the extent to which the wine has simply evaporated out of the bottle [it could be that the bottle is already half-empty from evaporation over the years].

Chances are that it will be vinegar [or worse], but on the other hand, 1959 was a pretty famous year, so who knows?

If he opens it at a big party [birthday or anniversay or whatever], then tell him to assume that it will be like a foul, spoilt vinegar, and to have backup bottles ready to open when that proves to be the case.

Thanks for the replies.

The Alsace is 1997, and the guy is hoping to bring it for a Christmas visit so I'll make sure I've got some alternatives.

I've seen the Burgundy and I'm happy to confirm that there's absolutely no sign that anything has leaked out round the foil or that there's any liquid missing from the bottle. So I'm starting to get a little excited about that one