1978 Marrow Wine

[Dicky]

There is a pretty short story behind this bottle.

I work as a sound and lighting engineer travelling up and down England quite frequently. This weekend I had come back from a 5 hour drive from Kent which lead far into the early hours of the morning. It happened that I arrived in my childhood town and thus planned to stay at my parents for the night.

I awoke later the same day and put the kettle on and found my step-dad sat in the dining room reading the paper. I sat with him and noticed that he had, 2 old, empty gallon bottles of Bells Whiskey sat in the next room covered in dust. I asked him where the hell he got them from. He explained that he used to own a house in the same town, and he found them in the cellar. Apparently he left them in the cellar but had remained friends with the people that bought the house from him. They had recently moved out and gave him the bottles back. "But more interestingly", he explained "is this". With that he took me into the pantry and passed me a dusty bottle that looked like it could hold about 3/4 of a gallon. Beneath the dust was a little hand-written label that read 'marrow wine 1978'. "Just don't drop it", he stressed.

Now, having a little experience with home brewing, a few things cropped up in my head. It's pretty unlikely that it would have continued to ferment over the past 33 years like he is expecting, marrow wine is pretty terrible anyway, and fruit/vegetable wines don't tend to keep for more than 5 or 6 years. So, what do you think? Do you recon he has 3/4 of a gallons of marrow vinegar on his hands?

 

[Insomniac]

Awesome, well, there's only one way to find out!

 

[Brew_Force]

If it was cellared and stored on its side properly, it would have lasted a few years; I doubt it was rotated enough to keep the cork from drying out and letting oxygen in, though. It's probably shot.

If I were you, I'd leave it corked and keep it sitting on display somewhere as a curiosity/conversation piece.

Great find, though!

 

[gird123]

If it was mine I would open smell then sip. It will probably taste like sherry which is ok. You should do a little more research, but I don't think there is anyway it could hurt you, it just might taste bad. If it tasted bad I would then re-cork and place on the mantle.

I was just reading about someone who had an elderberry wine from 1964 that they just consumed, and said it was great.

 

[Dicky]

I think elderberry, as a wine, might be better to begin with, haha.

The trouble is, it's not a corked bottle that has been used it's an old scrrew cap bottle. God knows what it used to contain but the cap is on pretty tight. It has been in a cellar, but I can't remark on it's storage patterns. It's pretty likely that it's been stored on it's base and left to it's own devices.

The plan is to open it at Christmas. I'll let you know how it tastes.

 

[BryanThompson]

If it was cellared and stored on its side properly, it would have lasted a few years; I doubt it was rotated enough to keep the cork from drying out and letting oxygen in, though. It's probably shot.

If I were you, I'd leave it corked and keep it sitting on display somewhere as a curiosity/conversation piece.

Great find, though!

It only needs to be rotated if the pocket of air was in contact with the cork. If it was sitting on it's side rotating is not needed.

 

[Sean]

You should taste it as soon as it is opened. Don't let it breath, and absolutely do not decant it. With older wines the wine degrades very quickly when exposed to air. When a very old bottle is opened, a stopwtch is sometimes used to time how long before the wine turns.

Sounds fun either way.

 

[Brew_Force]

It only needs to be rotated if the pocket of air was in contact with the cork. If it was sitting on it's side rotating is not needed.

Your post got me reading up on rotating bottles, and apparently Wine Spectator advises not to rotate the bottles at all because rotating can disturb sediment and cause premature aging. I never really thought about it like that...

So, OP, maybe your wine has a better chance than I thought! I can't wait to hear how it tastes!

 

[WIP]

Correct, rotating is not advisable. If the wine is on it's side, it won't change how the cork ages. A typical cork only lasts 20 years anyway. You are supposed to send your wines back to the winery to have them re-cork it at 20 years.

 

[Superlite27]

As the OP has stated that it is a screw cap, theories concerning whether or not the cork has fouled become moot. Rotating has no effect on a screw cap. The pocket of air has no effect on a screw cap. Nothing concerning anything or any variable within this thread has any effect on the cork, whatsoever, as THERE IS NO CORK.

Now. The question becomes whether or not the screw cap has retained its integrity. Is it rusted? Has it been unscrewed and retightened at any point in time? If so, odds decrease that you have anything of value. If it has been kept intact, the question becomes: "Has the amount of air within the bottle contributed to oxidation or spoilage?". I would believe the ideal would be if it were sealed slightly before stabilization. While this may or may not contribute to carbonization, I believe if it were sealed slightly before stabilization, the output might have formed a layer between the wine and the offensive oxygen that would contribute to preservation. If the bottle were shaken or moved significantly enough to disturb this layering of gasses, (and sediment) it may have affected the quality.

These are just my opinions and are no way supported by science or even prior experience. Just my thoughts. Feel free to let me know if you think I'm full of it. I could be.

Of course, there's only one way to find out, and Insomniac has pegged it quite accurately.

 

[WIP]

Woah. The cork thing was touched on and discussed. Thus, the point is not moot. No need to go on a rant.

You are right on the screw cap though. If it isn't rusted or degraded, there is a chance that it is good. Not much of a chance, but a chance none the less.

 

[Dicky]

From what I recall, the cap is in pretty good condition. I doubt it has ever been opened, just left in a cellar for years and years.

So it could be good news?

 

[huesmann]

You won't know until you pop the top.

 

[RobWalker]

My friend bought some 20 year old wine from a car boot once and said it was unreal. Try it, just make sure your friends are there to enjoy it

 

[Dicky]

I re-open this thread with the news that we finally opened the lid.

It was...ok. It hadn't gone off but I'm not certain that I will ever bother making marrow wine myself. It tasted more like a rum or sherry.
There is still a great deal left. It might go well with coke...

Dicky!