TN: 1994 M. Chapoutier CNduP La Bernardine

1994 M. Chapoutier CNduP La Bernardine - had a friend come by to pick up some wine and as we customarily use that as an excuse (not that we need one) to sit out on the patio, contemplate the world and talk about wine. I had come across this one while looking for some 95 CNduP. a better and longer lived vintage , and I immediately went "Oh-oh!" assuming that it was far after the 'drink-by' date, but pulled the cork to see.

It was further along than the 95 St. Benoit I had a few days before, but it was still hanging in there, lighter in colour and with less fruit than the 95 wine, but with some interesting Burgundian flavours and a correct clean finish. Sometimes you get lucky with the wines you overlook for too long.

[David M. Bueker]

It's alive! It's alive!! IT'S ALIVE!!!!!!

You certainly get an idea of how cellar conditions affect ageing when you taste old wines. One only need look up a particular wine and see the same wine tasted in the same time frame, with one poster, who probably kept the bottle on top of his fridge saying it is long dead and another who has a cellar saying it is just coming into prime time.

The one I was happy to have dodged was a bottle of 1982 Mouton that I came across as being for sale. I passed on it even at the then ridiculously low asking price when I saw that the owner had kept it under his bed in a non-air conditioned building. My friend who was with me was less dubious, and bought it and regretted it the minute it was eventually opened. D.O.A.

[David M. Bueker]

Cellaring condition are so critical for long aging. That said, decent storage does seem to do quite well for the long term, even if not quite as well as "perfect" storage.

Yes - I keep my cellar at 13 C. (about 55 F.) but the effects of having temps up to at least the low 70s F seem to just accelerate normal development. Head over that (75 F, say) and you get degradation/oxidation in the fairly near term.

I have friends with passive cellars in their basements and temps in the 65-70F range and no harm seems to come to the wines except that they drink well considerably sooner than the same wine from a cooler cellar/

I even try to place my oldest wines near floor level in the hope of keeping them cooler, but my cellar cooler is located high up and so there seems to be pretty consistent temps top to bottom.
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