Salut/Hi Ian Glover,

le/on Tue, 17 Feb 2004 19:16:37 +0000, tu disais/you said:-

>> Cor, 7 hours!!! I thought _I_ was the one who decanted early!! Mind you,
>> for a wine only 18 years old from Cos....
>>
>> If I'd been opening the wine, my immediate gut reaction (assuming high
>> fill levels etc) would be to decant it a couple of hours before
>> drinking, and taste half an hour before, with a view to re-decanting.
>
>From Dale's notes I'd say that early decanting would have been the way to
>go.

Yup, especially with Bill Spohn's imprimature.

> I did consider it but was nervous of it going over the hill since I
>don't have much experience of Bordeaux of that age.

With great wines from good years, 18 isn't old at all. I'm not claiming the
vintages are even vaguely similar, but the 1st growth '61s are reputed to be
just beginning to show their quality.

> we decanted a couple of hours ahead (but didn't think of re-decanting), and you could
>notice it smooth out at the end of the evening (five-ish hours later).

Double decanting is standard technique at Lafite, apparently, and it's
always worth considering if a wine isn't coming round as fast as you first
expected.

>Ian

Welcome to the club!

--
All the Best
Ian Hoare
http://www.souvigne.com
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