Consider this scenario: person a is invited over to diner by person b.
Person a decides to bring a bottle of old wine (1963). The bottle (and its nice wax seal) is covered with a certain amount of… let’s call it mineralized dust. It was wiped by the salesperson when bought, so it’s not exactly dirty. However, it’s not exactly clean, either, and it doesn’t look exactly fit to be put on a festive dinner table (where it’s supposed to end).
So… what would be the “proper” procedure here, both for person a (who is bringing a gift) and for person b (who is supposed to be serving it)? Namely, does the bottle need cleaning, or is it acceptable to put such a thing on the table?
My guess would be that: 1) the bottle should be left “as is” when handed over, but 2) covered in a cloth after opening.
Any other ideas?
Well, to give you a truly definitive answer about this wine thing, I’m afraid I’m going to need to taste it! :D:D:D
Seriously though, I believe I would have wiped the bottle clean before bringing it to dinner. If it were bought on the way, I would have said, “Here, I’ve brought this lovely vintage wine I think you’ll enjoy, but we’ll want to dust it off before we put it on the table.”
No host/hostess in their right mind would be offended by an insanely good bottle of wine that simply appears to actually be as old as it is!
Then again, people are frequently not in their right minds these days!
I am not sure about the etiquette of home wine service…
But in the restaurant industry, you would never bring a dirty bottle to the table. When you present the wine you state the name, varietal and vintage so everyone at the table knows exactly what they are drinking. To bring a dirty/dusty bottle to the table merely to dramatically show how old the bottle is would be VERY tacky. It also shows laziness on the part of the proprietor since the wine cellar should be cleaned regularly to ensure proper sanitation and a safe aging environment for the wine.
ymmv
-n
My Mom is way into all things wine.
If you served something like that in anything other than a carafe, she’d consider you a heathen! A HEATHEN I TELLS YA’!!
Besides, a wine like that needs to breathe anyway doesn’t it?
Perhaps I should have been a little more specific.
The wine bottle was wiped thoroughly with a dry cloth. It is not dirty, in the sense that you can handle it without any residue remaining on your hands. It is however speckled with what is/was dust, except now it’s hardened to the point where it feels like cement. It would have to be rubbed vigorously with a wet cloth, probably even detergent, to remove that.
edit: the caraffe sounds like a good idea.
Definitely decant.
The wine should be allowed to rest standing upright for as long as possible to allow any sediment to settle at the bottom.
Be as gentle as possible when uncorking, keeping the sediment collected at the bottom corner of the bottle.
Slowly pour about half of the bottle into the decanter. As the bottle empties, hold a candle to the side of the neck of the bottle, allowing you to see through it more clearly, and very slowly pour the rest. Once you start to see sediment in the neck of the bottle, stop pouring.
Enjoy!
If you really want to display the bottle on the dinner table, there are all kinds wine caddies out there that would also make a nice lasting gift for your hosts.
I agree with the standing upright part to let sediment settle, I’d do that for a few hours at least before opening.
However, I disagree with decanting a wine that old. Generally speaking, decanting aerates the wine fairly rapidly, which is actually a good thing for younger, tannic red wines.
But a wine that old (what wine is it, anyway, vintage Bordeaux 1st growth or something?) will fade fast if decanted. I’d just pour some straight out of the bottle into the glass and drink it within an hour. Watch for sediment.
I’m just now getting into wine, but I thought that the bottle of wine brought by a guest is a gift, and the host should serve the wine that they had planned with the dinner, saving the guest’s wine for later. Is this incorrect?
No, it is correct. If the guest expects their wine to be served with the meal, they had better have made explicit attangements with the host well before.
That said, it doesn’t matter about the bottle.
- I’m 99% sure you’re talking about a bottle of vintage port.
The absolutely worst thing you could do is bring it over on Xmas day and open it. It will have up an inch (if not more) of sediment in the bottle and this will take at least a week to settle out. Putting into a wine caddy at the host’s house is a great idea.
Next problem is the cork. It’s forty five years old. It’s going to be so old and soft that you’re going to have to be really careful with your corkscrew. Go slowly and you might get lucky.
You will absolutely have to decant the wine. Expect to lose at lest 20% or so. A port that old won’t stay fit for drinking for more than a few hours, but I can’t imagine you guys letting it go that long.
If you want to go really fancy, try this.
That is correct and like silenus said, arrangements should be made between the guest and the host. For such an old wine, I would expect arrangements to be made, since the wine should be allowed to rest for as long as possible at the dining destination.
FoieGras is also correct in that the wine will fade rapidly once opened, but personally I’d still decant it.
I suppose I should have said that it will fade rapidly either way, but moreso if decanted.
Also, I assumed non-fortified wine. Port won’t die so fast as it has a much higher alcohol content.
Unless it’s a Vintage Port, which I’ve found to be the most fragile wines of all. They go from divine to not worth drinking within just a few hours of opening.
Either way, while the wine is going to change once opened, and that’s certainly part of the enjoyment, experiencing those changes, it’s not going to just up and die immediately. It’ll be fine in a decanter over the course of a dinner/evening of sipping.
Mmmmm, oh man I’ve got a craving for a good Port now. Perfect weather for it here today. Maybe with gingerbread cookies? yum.
Please, Og, tell me they deliver in 30 minutes or less or the wine is free…! 
Thank you all for your input.
Since some were curious to know what kind of wine we’re talking about: white wine, Pinot Gris or Riesling or somesuch.
I’m not sure if this kind of wine needs to be decanted (this is why I didn’t think of a caraffe).
So - does the bottle need extra cleaning, to remove the mineralized dust I was talking about? (I repeat, it was wiped thoroughly, it’s not exactly dirty). And would it be acceptable to put it on the table in this condition?
If it’s a 45-year old bottle of white wine, it could very well be dead and gone already, unless it’s possibly a trockenbeerenauslese from a top producer in a stellar vintage, or possibly a SGN Riesling, Gewurtz or Pinot Gris from Alsace.
Now I’m really interested in what the wine is. Is there any way you could post the information on the label?
A 45-year-old white wine? Wow.
I say no, don’t worry overmuch about it. Although, the “mineralized dust” may well respond to an acid like lemon juice or vinegar without the need to scrub.
Otherwise, the caddie is a good solution.
What FoieGras said. That old a white? <shudder> Although it was sold as an old bottle, so presumably the retailer knew it was still supposed to be good.
To answer this question, yes, it’s fine. If it isn’t dirty, these crystals you speak of are likely a result of age. White wines can in fact precipitate tartrate solids out of solution, and they will often manifest themselves not only in the bottle but along the cork as well as under the capsule.
I really want to know what the label says, I’m quite intruiged.
Whoa, add me to the curious list. My answer doesn’t really change, beyond the fact that you won’t need a candle for decanting, but you really wouldn’t have needed it for a red wine either, unless it was a port and in a really dark bottle. But it adds a certain little ‘wow’ factor to the presentation of an aged bottle.
I would put it either on a cradle or in a caddie or a wine coaster on the table. Or, you could wrap it in a clear cellophane bag or something and then put it on the table.
I would still decant. FoieGrasIsEvil mentioned tartrate solids precipitating out, and that would most likely be the case for such an old white wine as cold stabilization during fermentation wasn’t really a winemaking technique used until fairly recently. Look under the cork for ‘wine diamonds’, they are really beautiful (hence the name) and completely harmless.
This sounds like a real treat. Lucky hosts! 