"Anders Tørneskog" > wrote:

>>> (the fabled stash of great wines at Glamis castle, Scotland,
>>> discovered some time in the 60-ies or 70-ies had survived a
>>> century at 41F...)

>> Sorry Anders, but I simply cannot believe that the overall
>> annual average temperature of the site of a Scottish castle
>> would be 41F = less than 3°C. That's more something like the
>> average temperature of a high alpine chalet or anything near
>> the polar circle. Simply impossible, imnsho.
>>
>> M.

> 41F is 9 degrees Fahrenheit above 32, the freezing point, so is
> equal to 5°C...
> Now it appears that average yearly temperature in Scotland
> ranges from 7 to 9°C. If we say 8°C then that is 46.4°F...
> (Somewhere on the net someone wrote that the Glamis Castle
> cellar was between 41 and 45...?) Perhaps you might be able to
> check with Broadbent or Christies whether they have any notes
> about that? Best

Thank you for correcting me. 8°C as yearly average for Glamis (and,
according to the fundamental principles of thermodynamics, also
definitely the average cellar temparature right there) seems to fit
my memory quite good.

Just as an aside: Serena Sutcliffe in the 1970s for Sothebys sold
quite a lot of 1940s/50s Bordeaux, a surplus from the Swedish
Monopoly. She also bought a few bottles herself, and said that due to
the very cool cellars of the monopoly, the wines were exceptionally
fresh and beautifully preserved.

M.