Champagne Heidsieck Dry Monopole 1966 'Reserved For England'

Hi folks,

First post, I'm from Durham, UK.

Yesterday, whilst clearing my deceased father-in-law's house, my wife came across this bottle of champagne. We know nothing about the subject so I am hoping somebody here will be able to help us.

An internet search has revealed a few titbits of information, but we are unsure how relevant it is to this bottle we now have. Any help would be much appreciated.

So far we have found these links and here is a photo of the actual bottle:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style ... 52188.html

http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/Lo ... t_id=3QLJX



Many thanks,
Tony.

Well it is clearly not the same as the bottle sold by Southerby's - the main label is not the same shape. Probably a fake.

As Steve said, the wine in your picture is not the same as the one in the Sotherbys photo. The neck foil says 'Gold Top' on the Sotherby's photo.

But I am puzzled by the newspaper story that said that "12 bottles of 1966 Heidsieck Dry Monopole, produced specially for the England World Cup squad"

If the bottle was produced specially then why does it not mention specifically the World Cup squad? I cannot believe that a Champagne house would make just 12 bottles of a vintage Champagne -- whereas specially labelling a wine is a quite different,and easy matter and commonly done.

'Reserved for England' was a fairly common designation on Champagne bottles before and following WWII, denoting a different dosage (style of wine) designed for that particular market.

I am assuming you want to know how valuable your bottle is.

Since it is not apparently the same as the special world cup wine, then it is just an old champagne and what it is worth will depend very much on who is interested in buying it. And that will depend on how well the wine has been kept.

Many thanks for your replies.

Not really sure how it's been kept other than it was found upright in a kitchen cupboard. I agree it differs from the World Cup 66 champagne.

We believe he was given it as part of a retirement gift from Union Carbide in 1982.

Still curious as to it's value and it's taste.

Tony
Welcome!
I can't help much on the champagne, but can offer a warm welcome.
Durham seemed a little thin on decent wine merchants when we visited - the Oddbins was tiny from recollection and barring Giovanni's Enoteca (I recall the uphill walk when we visited, but interesting selection), perhaps Waitrose seemed the next best bet. Did we miss any good merchants?
regards
Ian

Still curious as to it's value and it's taste.

If it has been kept upright in a kitchen cupboard for 25 years then I'd suggest it has little value except as a curiosity. Although there are some people in the UK who buy very old wines for tastings, I'll send you a message via this board with a couple of names.

Its taste -- if it should still be drinkable which is improbable -- will be of old Champagne, the colour will be dark yellow and the taste biscuity. Old Champagne is a delight to connoisseurs of old Champagne.

Many thanks for your information, Peter. How would the bottle have been best kept? I've noticed it's no more than £15-00 a bottle at Tescos these days, but was wondering if '66 was a good year and whether it was regarded as a good champagne back then?

I've just passed your views on to my wife and she's suggested we crack it open at the funeral next week and share ( if drinkable) between the family.

Thanks again.

[Robin Garr]

Still curious as to it's value and it's taste.

Tony, I can't comment about the taste, other than to note that older Champagnes gain richness up to a point, them merely turn "tired."

Best bet for comparative pricing is to search for it at http://www.wine-searcher.com

[David M. Bueker]

I've just passed your views on to my wife and she's suggested we crack it open at the funeral next week and share ( if drinkable) between the family.

Exactly the right idea.

I've just passed your views on to my wife and she's suggested we crack it open at the funeral next week and share ( if drinkable) between the family.

Exactly the right idea.

Ditto!

Many thanks for your information, Peter. How would the bottle have been best kept? I've noticed it's no more than £15-00 a bottle at Tescos these days, but was wondering if '66 was a good year and whether it was regarded as a good champagne back then?

I think the wine you are seeing at £15 is the non-vintage, which is made from a blend of vintages to maintain a standard house style.

In specially good vintages Champagne houses sometimes make a vintage wine, i.e. wholly from grapes picked that year and it costs more than the standard NV.

As to how the bottle should be best kept. It shouldn't. It's a 40 year old wine, it shouldn't have been kept that long. Suggest you contact Chris regarding the 66 vintage.

Champagne houses, and many others, will tell you that Champagne is ready to drink the moment it is released from the winery and that it will not improve by keeping.

However it does change with keeping and it is a personal taste whether one considers that an improvement. I do, and always keep Champage for at least 6 months before drinking and up to 5 years in a cool dark place and on their side, but I wouldn't dream of keeping one 25 years

Open it, but I suggest you have that £15 bottle from Tescos as a back up.

Come back here and let us know what you think.

There is an old 'trick' to help an old Champagne appear palatable and it has worked for me.
Buy the new bottle at £15 and then pour 'half a glass' of the old wine. Then top up with the newer Champagne.
This will give some freshness yet still give some 'memory' of the older wine. I did this recently for a 1959 Champagne and it seemed to work.
HOWEVER, the 59 had lost all of its bubbles (as the 66 will almost certainly have done) but still had a gold (as compared with brown) colour. If the wine is definitely brown then it's probably past helping.
The 'half-a-glass' is flexible. You might prefer less of the old if it is even darker in colour. I used 50% as then everybody got to taste the resulting blend.