Which is the best way to serve very very old wines?

[eggthenoodle]

I had a verticale wine tasting of Leoville Las Cases. (1993-1955). I felt that my friends that organised the tasting made some fatal errors in the way that the wine was served. Since we are dealing with a red wine I would like your observations on:
- The preparation of the bottle?
- The time needed for breathing?
- The need for decanting?
- The temperature of service?

I think that there could be a significant difference between how we would treat a great vintage to a little one.

Your opinions are invited!
Lets talk only about old Bordeaux red wines!

[Pontac]

You could write -- and people have written -- books on this subject.

Briefly

1)Remove capsule and clean neck with cloth. Decant the wines immediately before the tasting. How this is depends. Ideally in thecellar with the wine kept at the horizontal. Other with stand the bottle upright for a day to let sediment settle before decanting. (To the person who turns his wines every month - strongly suggest you don't. All you are doing is stopping letting sediment settle and harden. If bottle is on its side the cork is plenty wet, turning makes difference to the cork, but doesn't help the wine.)

No need to 'breath' since you are decanting -- indeed the 1955 might fade immediately, serve old to young and the young uns will breath in the decanter while waiting.

Decanting needed for old wines to leave sediment behind and it won't harm the young uns.

Ideally the wine should be at cellar temperature, they'll soon warm. Better cooler than too hot.

[dublinfella27]

with good company. mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

[SteveVFR]

There is a few things there. The biggest thing with old wines though is to make sure they have been stored correctly. I.e on their side in a stable temperature with low lighting level. I also turn my wines once a month to ensure the corks stay healthy.

In terms of serving, for me I prefer to let breathe for 2 to 5 hours depending on how full bodied I anticipate the wine to be, then decant to let the air reveal the nose of the wine. Also and this is a personal thing, but for full blooded reds I like to serve at 1 or 2 degrees above room temp. I normally place the decanter just inside the cupboard where my central heating boiler is for the last half hour before serving.

Ultimately, wine is a very personal thing. experiment with some reasonable quality supermarket wines until you determine what works best for you.

Then you can savor the vintage stuff with confidence

[crtsc007]

For older wines you want to keep the bottle horizontal or slightly tilted. The bottle does not need to be disturbed very much as far as shaking or placing it down hard. It should be served around 55-57 degrees Fahrenheit in a Bordeaux or Burgandy glasses. The glasses with their wide noses helps the wine breathe because it has a larger surface area with which oxygen can "awaken" the wines subtle accents. The wine should be decanted, however, pour a little taster before so you can see the difference after decanting. When decanting an older bottle, pouring the wine slowly will keep the sediment from being disturbed. Also, you don't need to pour every last drop out of the bottle because towards the bottom there will be more sediment. Holding a candle under the neck of the bottle will make it easier to see when you need to stop pouring. Some wines need a little more time to decant. Some older wines will need less. I have heard so some very old wines going bad after 15-20 minutes of being opened because the wine oxidized so rapidly. This is really a judgment call. Anyway, enjoy your wine!

[Sugar Pie]

As far as preparing the bottle, I'd clean it very well, and be sure to use a very sharp corkscrew and a trusted corkscrew that has never failed you in the past! The last thing you'd want is a splintered cork! ugh.

I'd let it breathe while decanting it. But I'd only decant it if you can see solids settled in the bottom of the bottle (or if the cork is busted). If not, a breathing time of about 20 min. ought to do fine.

"Room temp" is always a touchy subject. Some people take that literally, as in 74ºF. But when the phrase was coined, it referred to room temp of big stone catles, which were always drafty and cooler than our air-conditioned homes of today. So red wine (bordeaux) IMO should be chilled to about 60º for best flavor.