thanks for the help and one more question

[roos]

thanks for the information. im not planning on selling the bottles i was just curious. also i was wondering about how long i can save them(82 mouton roth). approximate time if possible and what happens if you go past that time period. does it go bad right away or is it more gradual. i have never had anything like this before and dont want to spoil them. thanks again

[Innkeeper]

This is a much more complicated question, so if we err, hopefull the more enlightened will jump in. First, as mentioned before, the conditions the bottles were stored in all these years is critical. Second, although the '82 has been widely hearlded as a great vintage, some have suggested that it is not as long lived as other great vintages. This, they say, does not necessarily apply to the great producers such as yours.

All this means it is difficult to say how long your wine will last. Great wines mature over an inverted bell curve. As the fruit fades, the wine actually deteriorates until the acid, tannin, and other elements in it mature into a new complexity that completes the upside down bell, and brings the wine well above the line. Your wine is now well above the line, and at some point will start slowly falling back again. Will stick out the ole noggin and say, drink it before 2006.

[mrdutton]

I sent an E-mail to Baron Phillipe Rothschild USA. Let's see if I get an answer. I'll keep you "posted". (-;