Vintage wines come up for air
Adrienne Bushell, one of dozens of Wellington wine collectors at the Duxton Hotel yesterday, had three bottles in her bag - a 1976 Penfolds Grange with a worrying stain around its seal, a bottle from 1983 and a 1986 vintage that still had its old $69.95 liquor store price tag stuck to its label.
Mrs Bushell took them to the hotel for Penfolds' first Wellington re-corking clinic. The seals and corks of her bottles were removed and a few millilitres were poured into glasses to be checked by the company's chief winemaker Peter Gago.
These bottles were special - the remnants of a dozen or so acquired over the years after she and her late husband were wowed by their first taste of Grange at a Sydney restaurant about 30 years ago.
Since then the odd bottle has been drunk on special occasions, but she was a little worried about how the last three were holding up - the stain around the seal of the 76 and a low tide around the neck had her worried that it could be leaking. A quick squizz, sniff and swill and Mr Gago declared her bottles were fine. As for the 1976, it was "magnificent - everything it should be at 32 years of age, a powerful wine that should go on for decades yet."
But Ms Bushell was disappointed to find her verdict differed to Mr Gago's.
"It's a bit thin. It didn't have the depth and richness that I believe it should."
Her bottles were topped up with a splash of the latest vintage, new corks and seals were fitted and signed re-corking certificates were stuck on the back of the bottles.
Mr Gago said the re-corking of bottles more than 15 years old was free and "the ultimate after-sales service". But it was also about marketing and encouraging people to drink their wines rather than just leaving them in their cellars.
Bottles of the latest vintage retail for about $500 - much more than most people can afford for wine - but then again they might be worth a fortune in half a century.
Australian wine auctioneer Andrew Caillard said a bottle of the 1951 vintage sold in Melbourne this year for A$53,936 (NZ$66,000). Lesser vintages from the 1970s and 80s sell for a more modest but still hefty $300.
The most valuable bottle re-corked in Wellington yesterday was a 1962 bin 60A, estimated to be worth $5500.