wine value?

[mrdutton]

Well the wine is a Bourgogne (Burgundy) most likely made from Pinot Noir. It seems to have been produced by a negociant for a chartitable organization (dating back to the 1400's) known as Hospices De Nuits a'Beaune. The Pinot Noir grapes used to make the wine come from the Cote D'Or from within an area near or around the village of Nuits St. George. Most likely the negociant who finished the wine (elevage) was Pierre Ponnelle. I could find no information on the producer.

Pinot Noir is a fiesty little bugger of a grape. When handled properly it produces some pretty darn good juice. When not handled properly it produces some pretty darn lousy juice.

The juice from the area around Nuits St. George is generally ready to drink after about five years in the bottle and may last as many as three years more. The juice produced by the Hospice in Nuits St. George is generally speaking very high quality stuff.

By example, a very good 1990 Nuits St. George would be ready to drink in 1995 and would peak by around 1998.

You might check a web site for value information: www.wine-searcher.com. I found two bottles of 1959 Nuits St. George for around $80.00.

Trying to sell even very high quality bottles of wine, by the bottle, can be very difficult. The fine wine market looks for case lots, not single bottle sales.

The ideal temperature for storing wine is right around 51 F. The 68 F at which your wine was stored is a good temperature for drinking the red variety of juice, but not ideal for storage.

Additionally, the cork used to seal the bottle should be changed out about once every twenty years. Cork is organic and does not last forever. The cork in your bottle of wine should have been replaced at least twice.

I am willing to guess that, unfortunately, you have a bottle of vinegar or something akin to it. However, we could both be surprised and you might, just might, have something that could be drunk; in my humble opinion, not very plausible, though.

You will never know until you open it. However, I personally don't have a lot of hope that you'll have a good drink.

Wine should be drunk with food appropriate to the wine. So, if you plan to open and experiment with this bottle, plan a meal to go along with it.

However, I would not let this bottle of wine be the centerpiece for a fine meal. I would recommend that you have a back-up of a known quality for your meal.

[This message has been edited by mrdutton (edited 10-21-2001).]