SDMB Winos* - Quick Question

*I mean “Winos” in the nicest sense; wine drinkers, enthusiasts or Oenophiles, I only have so much room in the title after all. Wino seemed better than Winer.

I am not crazy about red wine. Many years ago I belonged to a wine of the month club. It was nice getting wine delivered to my door, however it was rather red wine oriented and I ended up ending my subscription. I was craving some wine today but I didn’t have any white and realized that I still had two bottles of red in the house. One of them is a Cabernet Sauvignon from 1990 Robin Ridge Vineyards. I said “what the heck” and opened it, expecting to find vinegar. They had been stored on their side so the wine would have been in contact with the cork. There was no “foomph” sound when the cork was removed but I use a two pronged cork remover so it may have let out air when I inserted them in the bottle. The cork disintegrated after removal but none was left in the bottle. It smelled fine, not vinegary, if anything I just smelled a little alcohol. I poured some and it was dark but clear, no sediment. I took a sip and it wasn’t bad. I can taste grape, a bit of an earthiness (not dirt, maybe an oakey flavor?) and it’s a little dry but it’s really not bad at all. So, since it didn’t cause me to recoil in horror from the smell and taste like burning does that mean it’s safe to drink? I know some wines are aged a long time and are still good but this is 17 years old and the cork disintegrating had me a little concerned, but again it didn’t fall apart until it was out of the bottle.

Does the alcohol %age go up as wines age? I’m not likely to finish the bottle tonight, how do I keep it? I may have a spare cork from some other bottle of wine but I don’t have anything else to seal it with.

I also have a 16 year old Pinor Noir from Redwing Vineyards I haven’t opened yet. Maybe it needs another year? :stuck_out_tongue:

I hope it’s safe to drink since I’m sitting here sipping it.

I’m not a real expert, I sure one of those will be along shortly.
Red wines are sometimes very “tight” and tannic when bottled. They either need to age, or be opened and exposed to air for a while before they are ready to drink.
Cabernet Sauvignon is often one of the tighter wines out there. In my experience they don’t drink well when young.
The flavors you describe do not sound out of line for what I would expect.
The alcohol content of wine does not vary after it is bottled.

If you find you like that bottle you might consider trying a bottle of zinfandel (the red not white zin) it is very fruity and is usually ready to drink when you buy it.

Enjoy!

While I’m not an expert, I think you’re good to go and enjoy it. Without having anything to reseal you may need to finish it off instead of trying to keep it for an extended period.

I wouldn’t think the cork issue you described any indication of there being a problem with the wine.

Sounds like you have found a red you like - enjoy :slight_smile:

Well, that’s good to know. I’m almost done with my first glass. I don’t think I can finish the whole bottle today, I’d probably be able to finish it in a couple days, but I think I will have another glass … just to make sure I like it. :smiley:

Some wines age better than others. Cabernets often get better with age for quite some time before they start going bad. Pinots probably don’t age quite as well, so the 15 year old bottle of that wine might not stand up as well as the Cabernet did. And by “bad” I don’t mean a health risk-- just the taste. But try the Pinot and see if you like it. Worst case, it’s gone bad and you dump it out.

The alcohol will only go up if there is significant residual sugar in the wine, and some yeast to convert it to alcohol. If that happened, you’d probably taste some “bubbles”, like you would in champagne (which is purposely allowed to continue some fermentation in the bottle to produce the carbonated effect). I doubt your wine had enough yeast left in it or enough residual sugar to continue fermentation in the bottle.

And might I suggest Seghesio Vineyards Red Zinfandel. It’s wonderful!

Very full bodied, smooth, and a bit on the sweeter side for a red.

The bottle is very probably so far over the hill it’s travelling up the next one, but it won’t kill you. By this time, all of the tannins in the wine have vanished, along with most of the flavors the vintner was aiming for. Doesn’t mean it isn’t still drinkable, just that it isn’t a shadow of what it once was. I wouldn’t count on it tasting that way for more than a day, however. Oxidation caused by exposure to air is sure to trash whatever remaining flavors the wine has post haste. Drink deep, and trash the rest of the bottle, or use it to deglaze a pan Tuesday.

A good suggestion. I’ve had it and liked it. The 2005 made #91 on Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Exciting Wines of 2007.

Have you tried Earthquake Zin? I’ve been drinking a lot of that lately. It’s very smooth, and will kick your butt if you drink a lot-- which is not necessarily a bad thing. I usually get it in the $25 range.

I haven’t. Wow - 15+% alcohol. A quick search has someone comparing it to a Late Harvest Zin? I’ve had an Opolo Late Harvest Zin (16+%), and thought it tasted one heck of a lot like port. In fact, I’ll be buying a bottle for my Portuguese in-laws for the holidays; they love port.

I’m fairly new to Zin. When I first casually started drinking wine lo these many years ago, zinfandel could be fairly nasty stuff. I carried that memory until fairly recently, when I was reintroduced.

I bought the Seghesio because my local Costco carried it, and the buyers there usually have nice picks. I’ve also had an Opolo and some Rancho Zabacos, but I can’t recall the specific labels.

I’ve had both the Seghesio and Earthquake Zins. Both are really nice, especially the Earthquake. I agree, it’s incredibly smooth. If you can find it, I also highly recommend Dark Horse Zin. It’s an incredibly lush wine, very smooth and loaded with fruit. It’s my favorite DCV Zin these days.

DCV = Dry Creek Valley? As opposed to RRV?

I will try it, if I can get it. BevMo usually carries Earthquake near where I live. I hear you can get it at Costco, too, although I don’t shop there, so I don’t know first hand.

Yep Dry Creek Valley. I’ve had their Russian River Valley Zin and it is also delicious and very similar, but the Dry Creek Valley Zins are always a little more fruity to me, usually loaded with blackberry.

It’s hard to go wrong with Zins from the Dry Creek area, and I’ve got a laundry list of favorite producers, but this one is my favorite at the moment. It’s just so intense yet soft.

I will definitely try it. I love Zins (I love all wine, though), but too many are harsh. Intense yet soft sounds right up my alley.