Older Wines

[nogatau]

I grew up in the Napa Valley, but until recently only purchased and drank wines that were a couple of years old. I haven't had much experience with wines that have aged a bit.

Now that I've started looking into older wines, at auctions, for example (not extremely old, but 10-15 years+), I'm curious about those that state they are "not intended for human consumption". Is this because the wine is just meant to be collected, or is it an indication that the wine was stored improperly and would indeed not be fit to drink?

An example would be an '88 bottle of Marilyn Merlot that I aquired. Would I be wrong in wanting to drink this (collectability aside)?

[winoweenie]

Hi Nogatau and welcome to the board. In a word, if you value your health, keep your lips and that wine as far apart as possible. I don't understand why in the blazes anyone would buy a wine that was undrinkable on release. WW [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/frown.gif[/img]

[nogatau]

It's not wine that was undrinkable upon release ... for this particular bottle, I know for a fact that it was intended to be drank. In general, there shouldn't be anything wrong with drinking a 15-yr old merlot, right?

[Kcwhippet]

It's a ploy they use in some of those internet auction sites to get around the restriction of selling wine. If they say it's not for human consumption, then they believe technically they are not breaking any laws, particularly shipping to states it's not allowed.

[winoweenie]

" Nothing wrong in drinking a 15-year-old Merlot, Right?".
Very true but not a 15-year-old wine that was meant to be drunk on release and was priced at around 7 bucks. The only 15 year old Merlots I want to drink are from Pomerol. WW

[Thomas]

nogatau, you are being led astray. Marilyn Merlot isn't in the class of collecting, let alone consuming. It's a gimmick.

Dare I say it, but I consider the words auction and wine in the same sentence an abomination...



[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 10-06-2003).]

[nogatau]

Well, the Marilyn Merlot was just an example ... I wasn't saying it was a great wine or anything (although of the bottles I've had, I've found them to be pretty decent).