Storage Surprise, A Real Heartbreaker

After all these years of fondly contemplating drinking my 1989 Beaucastel CNP I finally decided to go grab a few bottles and get started. This case had been perfectly stored since the day I purchased it. As I popped open the wood case, which the geniuses in the storage facility had written all over in magic marker, I though to myself " Well, I guess I won't be building that table using this wood!", but what the heck, I am about to behold my 12 gorgeous bottles of Beaucastel! And then the top came loose and there they were, dirty caps, stained labels, fills two and three inches across on the top! Six really pretty sorry looking bottles, 4 rather sorry looking bottles, 1 decent looking bottle with a good fill, and 1 bottle that apparently suffered no seepage at all. I had heard the stories of bad corks on 1989 Beaucastel, but of course, that's the sort of thing that happens to other people, right? Wrong. I couldn't help but wonder, if I had noticed this early on, could I could have gotten some satisfaction from the merchant or Beaucastel? Too late now!
I am sure this has happened to other WLDG folks and I was just wondering, being that the wine was properly stored and the seepage was due to bad corks and not abuse, is it likely that the wine might still be good, or is it likely to taste as bad as it looks? I haven't opened one yet since I picked them up a week ago. I can't bear to until I have some idea of what to expect!

Ouch, I can't even imagine what that experience is like. So sorry.

To me, it's a flawed product, no matter how long you have stored it, so maybe it's worth a try contacting the importer directly? But I agree that it's probably too late to get any satisfaction.

I suspect most bottles are gone (i.e., oxidized), but a few (2-3?) might still be OK.

the story I've always heard was that a significant part of the US allotment of the 89 Beaucastel arrived during a NJ port strike, and sat on docks for a week or two. Which led the enormous bottle variation one encounters in this wine.

I don't want to give you too much hope but I have had a few bottles over the years that have shown significant ullage that were still very nice to drink. I don't recall any as low as 3 inches but I fondly recall a 1969 German Riesling (I think Mosel and I think Auslese) that was probably 2 inches and it was fabulous when consumed in the early 1990's. But if as Dale suggest, its heat damage then you are probably not going to be very lucky.

[Jenise]

No help to offer except condolences. I'd cry. And you were so patient, too: you deserve this disappointment less than anyone.

OMG, that's terrible. You are probably kicking yourself around the block right now for not having looked sooner. I remember feeling like a complete dummy all those years ago when I had a 6 pack of BV George de Latour delivered and it sat on my hot driveway for 6 hours in the sun because I didn't notice the delivery guy had been there. Every bottle had seepage and a pushed cork, and we had to drink them within the next two weeks. An expensive 2 weeks, I might add.
We've been lucky to share many of Bruce S.'s '89 Beaucastels in the last several years and they are spectacular for the most part. Open the worst looking one first and go up the ladder of destruction that way till you find one that hopefully will be drinkable or even good. But please do report back. I always wonder what seepage will do to a wine, esp. if it is only slight or moderate.

Try a bottle immediately. I had 4 with bad corks I discovered about 3 or 4 years ago and they all drank well. WISHING YOU LUCK.

i'm just a tich skeptical. i mean, how bad can a cork be? not quite 20 years isn't that long. could this wine have been mistreated before you got it? or the temperature control in storage failed?

If any dry red wine should be able to stand up to some heat, it should be a CdP. The 89 Beaucastels I've had have been quite variable, but none were bad (though none had the kind of ullage you decide). I think differences in temp history explain the varying degrees of brett.

Hey folks, thanks for all the empathy!

Dale, I sure hope that story in not true! I might have a shot with bad corks but cooked wine is cooked wine.

Brian & Lou, Ah yes, hope! From you mouths to God's ears.

Ines, Yes I do feel like an idiot for not having looked sooner. At the very least I'd have saved on all that storage!

David, If Dale's story is true there's the mistreatment. My other wines that I've stored at the same facility haven't showed any not to be expected issues.

I'll definitely be getting at a few of these as soon as I get over my cold and will report back.

Try the worst looking bottle first, but pull the cork early and be prepared to give it as long as 4 - 5 hours (in the bottle) to resuscitate and develop. This "slow oxygenation" approach, so favored by Monsieur Francois Audouze, can work wonders with wines that may seem hopelessly gone when first opened. It's definitely worth a try anyway. It can work wonder with older Burgs - less sure about CdP. But then '89 isn't *that* old, and it was a strong vintage in CdP.

What a tragedy! This is why I always pop open and inspect every case just after I take possession. In addition to temperature and storage-related problems before you took possession, as in this case, there can be breakage or cracking of the bottle glass. It very rarely happens, but it does happen, and it's way easier to get the problem rectified if you discover it early.

-Paul W.

Try the worst looking bottle first, but pull the cork early and be prepared to give it as long as 4 - 5 hours (in the bottle) to resuscitate and develop. This "slow oxygenation" approach, so favored by Monsieur Francois Audouze, can work wonders with wines that may seem hopelessly gone when first opened. It's definitely worth a try anyway. It can work wonder with older Burgs - less sure about CdP. But then '89 isn't *that* old, and it was a strong vintage in CdP.

That's very interesting Paul. I find the whole "breathing thing" perplexing and don't understand why this technique might be able to resuscitate a goner. I am, however, assuming that Monsieur Audouze has some very convincing reasons for espousing this approach, and so I have decided to do exactly what you suggest. First up will be the ugliest bottle which shall be duly "Audouze-ized"!

Well I popped that ugliest bottle of my '89 Beaucastels on Saturday night at a surprise birthday party given for me! Since it was an unexpected occasion I didn't get to properly "Audouze" the wine as I had planned (opened 1 1/2 hrs before drinking), but the state of the bottle amounted to a birthday present in itself! Happily the wine was pretty darn good! There was a little bit of bret on the nose but in the mouth the wine was deep and fresh tasting with a very long finish. The occasion didn't lend itself to in depth and leisurely analysis of the wine but everyone really enjoyed it! So, I guess the problem with my case was bad corks and not abuse! Next bottle I'll open hours before and hopefully it will be even better!

[Jenise]

Tom, what a relief. Congratulations on the birthday AND the bottle--what a gift that turned out to be!

Between a friend and myself we bought a case from Addy Bassins in D.C. and found many to be leakers but except of one that was corked, they all tasted great. The story I heard was that one of the Perrin brothers decided to add another cork producer to the supply in 1989 and so some bottles did and some did not leak. Bassins had many returned or unsold cases of this wine that I eagerly tried to buy from themyears later, even at twice my original cost but they would not take me up on my offer. I would not worry at all. None were oxadized or tasted as having been cooked.

Congrats, Tom!!! Sounds like there's hope for that case after all.

Tom,
Glad you had some success with that first bottle. Apparently there are a number of reactions that occur in a wine when it is opened and exposed to air. Some have good results, like deepened fruit and integrated flavors, some have bad results ultimately, like blunted and over-softened flavors and eventually a "dead: wine. I think the "good" reactions prefer to have less available oxygen, and more time for that little oxygen to react. That is also a principle of reactions in solution - that weaker solutions will react at slower rates, so it isn;t surprising that a low amount of oxygen will take longer to do anything. At any rate, the proof is in the pudding, as they say, or in the wine bottle in this case. I have found older Burgs that I thought were dead and gone on first taste to come around and develop complete health, believe it or not, but only with 5 hours or more with the cork pulled (and some wine removed to create a surface area of at least a silver dollar size). Not every one will recover, I suppose, but so far I have been extremely impressed.

I've also tried decanting half a bottle and leaving half in the bottle. Naturally the decanted half softens first, but it is the undecanted part that turns out to be better in the end (I work on it after the decanted part is finished, as it does take more time for it to develop). Somehow the fruit develops and deepens but the wine doesn;t suffer any shortcomings. It better retains its vitality and freshness. Why a seemingly dead old Burg will come back to life is almost miraculous! I suppose what is left of the fruit just deepens and strengthens to an extent that you wouldn;t have thought possible on first taste.

A coole serving temperature also help strengthen weak fruit, just not so cold that the wine shuts down or shows tannin and acid more (if they are present and a factor).

[quote="Paul Savage"]Tom,
Glad you had some success with that first bottle. Apparently there are a number of reactions that occur in a wine when it is opened and exposed to air. Some have good results, like deepened fruit and integrated flavors, some have bad results ultimately, like blunted and over-softened flavors and eventually a "dead: wine. I think the "good" reactions prefer to have less available oxygen, and more time for that little oxygen to react.
I've also tried decanting half a bottle and leaving half in the bottle. Naturally the decanted half softens first, but it is the undecanted part that turns out to be better in the end (I work on it after the decanted part is finished, as it does take more time for it to develop). Somehow the fruit develops and deepens but the wine doesn;t suffer any shortcomings. It better retains its vitality and freshness.


I am going to be experimenting with this method Paul. Like most wine drinkers I have opened bottles and gotten 7/8s through drinking them only to have them dramatically begin to open up. I have also opened my share of bottles that were impressive upon opening and rapidly gave up the ghost! This slow oxidating method seems to me to offer the opportunity to open the wine, sample it periodically along the way, and even stop the process at any point. At the same time you don't run nearly the risk of killing the wine that you do when you decant into a vessel with a big surface area for extended airing.

And... thanks for the well wishes folks! I am a happy camper, just sitting around thinking what to pair my next unspoiled bottle of Beaucastel with! Tom