A wine that lasts

[ikulus]

My wife and I are about to celebrate my firstborn son's 1st birthday. I would like to purchase for him a 2004 (year he was born) wine that can be enjoyed upon his graduation from college. Is this possible and if so, what should I look for?

[winoweenie]

Hi ikulus and welcome to the board. All of the major wines from the 04 vintage are still in barrel and most wont be bottled before 06. Wait a year or two when the wines have been evaluated and we can give you an answer. WW

[Salesmanlqr2]

A good wine that I tried was not cheap "but" you can buy an 2004 vintage of Opus and lay it down for 17 years and would be just fine to drink! There are other lables out there that my be a little cheaper. Opus runs around $130.00 a bottle. Congrates on your son.

[winoweenie]

As stated before SM noone can judge how a wine will age before evaluating it. And, IMHO, there's only been 1 (ONE) vintage of Opus that will age gracefully past 10-12. Lots of wines out there with far superior track records for aging than Hocus-Pocus-Opus, AND for FAR less money. WW

[Innkeeper]

I'll try to be gentle. A project like this has some potential pitfalls. As has been stated, there is quite a bit of discussion about which wines will go the route. Then there is the storage issue. The wine has to be kept in pristine storage (temperature, humidity, vibrations, et al) for the entire period. Throw in the likelihood of moves, and commensurate issues. Finally, what if twenty years from now your fine young college grad doesn't like wine? There is even a greater liklehood that he won't like old wine. Many avid winedrinkers don't.

We've been drinking wines all our married lives (42 years). Of our four children, one drinks an occasional White Zin starting at age 32, and one other will even touch that now once or twice a year.

Hope this doesn't throw too much cold water on your plans.

[wineguruchgo]

Why not buy a bottle of port? That has a far better chance of still being good when opened 20 years from now.

[winoweenie]

GUYS!!!! He asked about a 2004 vintage wine. Do any of your answers make sense? WW

[tw]

Ive been asked the same question before and did a little research on the matter a while back. Given the issues of storage and longevity found one that is a good candidate. It is a Madeira, and i am not sure on the type of wine it is but the shelf life is incredible. It was meant to keep on the long oceanic journeys and still be good for some time yet.