I have recently been given several dozen bottles of French wine.
Nothing sensational but some decent vintages. They are mostly reds with
about 10-15 bottles of white. The white vintages are all around the mid 90's
('93-'97) and are varied (Sauternes , Pouilly Fume, Alcase Riesling and even
one white Chatteauneuf du Pape). All the bottles were cellared
appropriately.


Have these whites passed their peak or are they still drinkable ?


Thanks

On Mon, 21 Jun 2004 20:09:33 -0400, "Nelson Munce" >
wrote:

>I have recently been given several dozen bottles of French wine.
>Nothing sensational but some decent vintages. They are mostly reds with
>about 10-15 bottles of white. The white vintages are all around the mid 90's
>('93-'97) and are varied (Sauternes , Pouilly Fume, Alcase Riesling and even
>one white Chatteauneuf du Pape). All the bottles were cellared
>appropriately.

Appellation alone says nothing, what matters is who made them.
Sauternes can last for a century, Alsace riesling after 10 years seems
to develop a new balance and loses any petrol it might have had at the
beginning, but can age for 30 years. Chateauneuf du Pape white can
also age 30 years. If the wine was made well, of course.

Mike

Mike Tommasi, Six Fours, France
email link http://www.tommasi.org/mymail

dunno... but a couple years ago... i had a california chardonnay that was
cellared in 1970 and was like the nectar of the gods.

cheers!
Doc

"Nelson Munce" > wrote in message
...
> I have recently been given several dozen bottles of French wine.
> Nothing sensational but some decent vintages. They are mostly reds with
> about 10-15 bottles of white. The white vintages are all around the mid
90's
> ('93-'97) and are varied (Sauternes , Pouilly Fume, Alcase Riesling and
even
> one white Chatteauneuf du Pape). All the bottles were cellared
> appropriately.
>
>
> Have these whites passed their peak or are they still drinkable ?
>
>
> Thanks
>
>

On Tue, 22 Jun 2004 07:47:14 +0200, Mike Tommasi > said:

] On Mon, 21 Jun 2004 20:09:33 -0400, "Nelson Munce" >
] wrote:
]
] >I have recently been given several dozen bottles of French wine.
] >Nothing sensational but some decent vintages. They are mostly reds with
] >about 10-15 bottles of white. The white vintages are all around the mid 90's
] >('93-'97) and are varied (Sauternes , Pouilly Fume, Alcase Riesling and even
] >one white Chatteauneuf du Pape). All the bottles were cellared
] >appropriately.
]
] Appellation alone says nothing, what matters is who made them.
] Sauternes can last for a century, Alsace riesling after 10 years seems
] to develop a new balance and loses any petrol it might have had at the
] beginning, but can age for 30 years. Chateauneuf du Pape white can
] also age 30 years. If the wine was made well, of course.
]

Yup, my white Chateauneufs from 88-91 are drinking brilliantly now.

FWIW what is a bad vintage for red is not necessarily so for white. Some
of the '91 white chateauneufs are excellent, although you'd be hard pressed
finding many reds that are better than "good."

-E
--
Emery Davis
You can reply to
by removing the well known companies

In article >, Mike Tommasi
> writes:

>what matters is who made them

Yep, to me the 3 most important things re a wine are producer, producer, and
producer.

Of course vintages matter, too. A couple of gross generalities re the '93-'97
period: Best Sauternes vintage was '97, followed by '96.
No really bad vintages in Alsace, '96 followed by '94 would probably be my
personal choices to hold if a good producer. But I've had very nice '93s, '95s,
and '97s, too.
No matter the producer, I wouldn't hold a pre-'97 Pouilly-Fume (unless MAYBE a
D. Dageneau) any longer, likely should have been drunk already.

If you post exact wines, people can give better advice.
Dale

Dale Williams
Drop "damnspam" to reply

Emery Davis wrote:


> Yup, my white Chateauneufs from 88-91 are drinking brilliantly now.

Whose white CdPs would you recommend, Emery? I've tasted a number that
I liked young, but whose are ageworthy?

Mark Lipton

"Nelson Munce" > skrev i melding
...
> I have recently been given several dozen bottles of French wine.
> Nothing sensational but some decent vintages. They are mostly reds with
> about 10-15 bottles of white. The white vintages are all around the mid
90's
> ('93-'97) and are varied (Sauternes , Pouilly Fume, Alcase Riesling and
even
> one white Chatteauneuf du Pape). All the bottles were cellared
> appropriately.
>
>
> Have these whites passed their peak or are they still drinkable ?
>
All are drinkable - but the Sauternes may probably keep 10-20 or more years
if they are any good.
Anders

On Tue, 22 Jun 2004 14:22:50 -0500, Mark Lipton > said:

] Emery Davis wrote:
]
]
] > Yup, my white Chateauneufs from 88-91 are drinking brilliantly now.
]
] Whose white CdPs would you recommend, Emery? I've tasted a number that
] I liked young, but whose are ageworthy?
]

Hi Mark,

Some of the usual suspects. I think the Gonnet bros make some of the
finest (and most ageworthy) CdP. La Nerthe. Coulon. _Not_ Roger Perrin,
although it can be very nice young some years (the red is better).

Of course the Beaucastel Perrins make a white or two worthy of age...

-E
--
Emery Davis
You can reply to
by removing the well known companies