Friend of mine found a bottle of wine (Torres Gran Reserva, 1959) that’s almost forty-five years old. Needs to know if it’s still drinkable, or if it has morphed into some vile vinegar-like substance.
Google wasn’t helpful, so on the friend’s behalf I throw this question to the Teeming Millions. Any wine aficiandos out there know much about this label, and if it is still drinkable after all this time?
Label information provided below for reference.
Front label
Gran Reserva
1959
Torres
Estate Bottled At the vineyards
Estable 1870
Gran Coronas
Produced and bottled by Miguel Torres * Villafranca del Panadés * Product of Spain
No. 796
Reserva 1959 Back label
Gran Coronas (red dry)
This charming wine you are about to enjoy was born on the sunny vine-clad slopes of the fertile rolling hills west of Barcelona, where grapes have flourished since they were introduced by the Romans, 20 centuries ago. Every bottle of this wine has been produced and bottled in the TORRES cellars.
[More rah rah stuff]
Very faint on the bottom:
Transported by Consolidated Distilled Product(s)
Chicago, Illinois
You didn’t mention where your friend found the bottle. Does he/she know how it was stored for the last 43+ years? That will have a great deal to do with the drinkability. Exposure to variances in temperature (especially high temps) can render a fine wine into vinegar.
I wouldn’t mine tasting such a wine, if only for the experience. I tasted a 1981 Silver Oaks cab earlier this year, and it was heavenly! (With a divine price to match)
You have a fairly undistinguished Spanish dry red wine. Since the bottle doesn’t say what variety grapes it was made from, I’m going to guess that it won’t necessarily have the staying power that it would need to age well over forty years. Only three to five percent of wine really improves with long aging, anyway. Crack it open, but don’t be prepared fr anything special. It’ll probably be a bit thin and musty. Hell, I’d try it just to be able to say you had it. It might surprise you.
F_G, home winemaker since '97, cork dork since '91
FWIW, vinegarization is caused by a different organism (acetobacter) than fermentation (various yeasts). What this means, in practice, is that it will depend on the continued integrity of the cork - if it has any porosity, it could have let in excessive air, which would greatly increase the risk of the wine turning to vinegar. Generally, people that store wine for long periods (collectors, businesses, etc.) should replace the cork every 25-30 years in order to minimize the risk of this occurring.
Of course, there are plenty of other things that could have affected your bottle while it was being stored, but most of them will leave some visible trace (seepage around the cork, discoloration in the wine itself, sediment deposits in a filtered wine, etc.)
I agree with False_God - it’s probably past its peak. OTOH, drinking history has an appeal all its own.