These were all odd bottles of wine that should have been opened years
ago. All were properly stored since release, all had a good fill, and
there were no cork issues.

Torres Gran Sangre de Torro Riserva 1976. I was expecting it to be
very dead, but it was not. This wine is at the lower, but not lowest,
price range of the many Torres wines. It still had deep color with
only moderate indication of age around the rim. It was still fairly
fruity, had enough acid, and had developed a bit of clean straw
character with age. I likely would not have guessed what it was and
the age from a blind tasting - a big red very good for BBQ meat and
such, but without much complexity. That this wine has lasted so well
is the greatest wine surprise I have had in a long time.

Cote-Rotie "Les Jamelles" 1979, Paul Jaboulet Aine. I have had a few
bottles of this in the past, and only one bottle now remains. It is
now medium scarlet with a little age around rim. It likely will keep a
few more years, but it is beginning to lose some fruit, so it likely
would be best to drink soon. It had plum-like fruit with some spice
and herbs. There is enough acid, and tannins are well resolved. Not a
blockbuster that will get raves from some critics, but still quite
decent with food.

Ch. Cantemerle 1967, magnum. Many 1967 red Bordeaux wines are now well
past their "best by" date. I did not expect much of the 1967
Cantemerle and hoped that it still would be drinkable. It is quite
drinkable without any serious faults, but also without much to get
excited about. The color is still fairly dark, and I could detect no
oxidation. The main componet was mixed dark berries. There was enough
acid. Tannins were resolved. There just was not much complexity. I am
sure I will be ready for something else when the magnum, now in the
wine machine, is empty.

I am getting low in gas for the wine machine after about 8 years. The
local welding supply was Aeriform but it is now Airgas which bought
out Aeriform and has a web site. This time I have ordered argon
instead of nitrogen. Airgas has ultra high purity argon(99.999%) (AR
UHP80) in a steel about half the size cylinder at high pressure. It
costs only about $US 80, and I would bet the sellers of some wine
machines with their small containers of low pressure argon do not use
argon nearly as pure. The cylinder I ordered will last me over 7 years
and will thoroughly flush and dispense many hundreds of bottles. So
much for the excuse by some that the very high prices they charge for
small containers of argon are justified because argon is expensive.
The price of rental of the cylinder has increased in recent years. I
found it to my advantage to buy the cylinder, which will be paid for
by yearly rental fees that I do not have to pay in about 3 years and
save over $200 for my usual time between refills.

On Aug 18, 4:20�pm, cwdjrxyz > wrote:
> These were all odd bottles of wine that should have been opened years
> ago. All were properly stored since release, all had a good fill, and
> there were no cork issues.
>
> Torres Gran Sangre de Torro Riserva 1976. I was expecting it to be
> very dead, but it was not. This wine is at the lower, but not lowest,
> price range of the many Torres wines. It still had deep color with
> only moderate indication of age around the rim. It was still fairly
> fruity, had enough acid, and had developed a bit of clean straw
> character with age. I likely would not have guessed what it was and
> the age from a blind tasting - a big red very good for BBQ meat and
> such, but without much complexity. That this wine has lasted so well
> is the greatest wine surprise I have had in a long time.
>
> Cote-Rotie "Les Jamelles" 1979, Paul Jaboulet Aine. I have had a few
> bottles of this in the past, and only one bottle now remains. It is
> now medium scarlet with a little age around rim. It likely will keep a
> few more years, but it is beginning to lose some fruit, so it likely
> would be best to drink soon. It had plum-like fruit with some spice
> and herbs. There is enough acid, and tannins are well resolved. Not a
> blockbuster that will get raves from some critics, but still quite
> decent with food.
>
> Ch. Cantemerle 1967, magnum. Many 1967 red Bordeaux wines are now well
> past their "best by" date. I did not expect much of the 1967
> Cantemerle and hoped that it still would be drinkable. It is quite
> drinkable without any serious faults, but also without much to get
> excited about. The color is still fairly dark, and I could detect no
> oxidation. The main componet was mixed dark berries. There was enough
> acid. Tannins were resolved. There just was not much complexity. I am
> sure I will be ready for something else when the magnum, now in the
> wine machine, is empty.
>
> I am getting low in gas for the wine machine after about 8 years. The
> local welding supply was Aeriform but it is now Airgas which bought
> out Aeriform and has a web site. This time I have ordered argon
> instead of nitrogen. Airgas has ultra high purity argon(99.999%) (AR
> UHP80) in a steel about half the size cylinder at high pressure. It
> costs only about $US 80, and I would bet the sellers of some wine
> machines with their small containers of low pressure argon do not use
> argon nearly as pure. The cylinder I ordered will last me over 7 years
> and will thoroughly flush and dispense many hundreds of bottles. So
> much for the excuse by some that the very high prices they charge for
> small containers of argon are justified because argon is expensive.
> The price of rental of the cylinder has increased in recent years. I
> found it to my advantage to buy the cylinder, which will be paid for
> by yearly rental fees that I do not have to pay in �about 3 years and
> save over $200 for my usual time between refills.

thanks for interesting notes on an unusual lineup. Very surprised at
the Spanish wine.

I've had some Cantemerles that aged ok for 20-25, but 41 is a lot even
in magnum. I've liked the Jabouet Jumelles much, but heard they were
better back in the day.

On Aug 18, 9:20*pm, cwdjrxyz > wrote:
> These were all odd bottles of wine that should have been opened years
> ago. All were properly stored since release, all had a good fill, and
> there were no cork issues.
>
> Torres Gran Sangre de Torro Riserva 1976. I was expecting it to be
> very dead, but it was not. This wine is at the lower, but not lowest,
> price range of the many Torres wines. It still had deep color with
> only moderate indication of age around the rim. It was still fairly
> fruity, had enough acid, and had developed a bit of clean straw
> character with age. I likely would not have guessed what it was and
> the age from a blind tasting - a big red very good for BBQ meat and
> such, but without much complexity. That this wine has lasted so well
> is the greatest wine surprise I have had in a long time.
>
> Cote-Rotie "Les Jamelles" 1979, Paul Jaboulet Aine. I have had a few
> bottles of this in the past, and only one bottle now remains. It is
> now medium scarlet with a little age around rim. It likely will keep a
> few more years, but it is beginning to lose some fruit, so it likely
> would be best to drink soon. It had plum-like fruit with some spice
> and herbs. There is enough acid, and tannins are well resolved. Not a
> blockbuster that will get raves from some critics, but still quite
> decent with food.
>
> Ch. Cantemerle 1967, magnum. Many 1967 red Bordeaux wines are now well
> past their "best by" date. I did not expect much of the 1967
> Cantemerle and hoped that it still would be drinkable. It is quite
> drinkable without any serious faults, but also without much to get
> excited about. The color is still fairly dark, and I could detect no
> oxidation. The main componet was mixed dark berries. There was enough
> acid. Tannins were resolved. There just was not much complexity. I am
> sure I will be ready for something else when the magnum, now in the
> wine machine, is empty.
>
> I am getting low in gas for the wine machine after about 8 years. The
> local welding supply was Aeriform but it is now Airgas which bought
> out Aeriform and has a web site. This time I have ordered argon
> instead of nitrogen. Airgas has ultra high purity argon(99.999%) (AR
> UHP80) in a steel about half the size cylinder at high pressure. It
> costs only about $US 80, and I would bet the sellers of some wine
> machines with their small containers of low pressure argon do not use
> argon nearly as pure. The cylinder I ordered will last me over 7 years
> and will thoroughly flush and dispense many hundreds of bottles. So
> much for the excuse by some that the very high prices they charge for
> small containers of argon are justified because argon is expensive.
> The price of rental of the cylinder has increased in recent years. I
> found it to my advantage to buy the cylinder, which will be paid for
> by yearly rental fees that I do not have to pay in *about 3 years and
> save over $200 for my usual time between refills.

Really interesting discussion. I am just mourning the fact that I have
finished my last bottle of Chateax Siran 1982 Grand Cru, which I
bought at Auction a few years ago. I tend to buy a fair proportion of
my cellar in this way as I find that there are some real bargains to
be had.

If you get the chance check out my <a href=”http://
www.orderwineonlineblog.com”>Order Wine Online</a> blog