Poll: Oldest wine we've tasted

Coming off of tasting the 1916 Rieussec last month, I'm curious what the oldest wine the other forumites here have tasted. Rogov I know has tasted some wines 150+ years old. But he is a professional after all. What about the rest of us? And please list the specific wine, if you care to. The rules here: (1) oldest wine according to age when tasted, and (2) single vintage wines only (not soleras).

As stated, for me, 93 yrs old: Chateau Rieussec, Sauternes 1916
After that, 80 yrs, Chateau Coutet, Barsac 1928
After that, 54 years, Quancard, Chambolle-Musigny 1952

P.S.: I'm not trying to brag here, I am just genuinely curious, and I can't image I'm the only non-professional here who's tasted wines upwards of 75.

[Jenise]

If you include Madeira, I suppose I can go back about 175 years; otherwise I've had 1928 Pontet Canet and Margaux, '29 Margaux, a '36 Clos Vougeot, and then '53 Lafite would be the next oldest.

Jenise, vintage-dated Madeira is definitely allowed, just not solera. In response to which, I've enabled re-voting.

Several 17th century Madeira and Tokaji wines, each drinking beatifully when I tasted them and, if any bottles still exist will probably outlive most of those of us who participate in wine forums today.

Oh yes - I have also seen but not tasted two of the famed Jefferson bottles. Whether genuine or counterfeit I leave to the courts in the UK and USA to decide.

Best
Rogov

Several 17th century Madeira and Tokaji wines, each drinking beatifully when I tasted them and, if any bottles still exist will probably outlive most of those of us who participate in wine forums today.

Oh yes - I have also seen but not tasted two of the famed Jefferson bottles. Whether genuine or counterfeit I leave to the courts in the UK and USA to decide.

Best
Rogov

17th century? Wow, I didn't realize that even you had tasted wines as old as that. I would add the appropriate option except that it would reset the votes.


Rogov, we must see notes for those!

1905 Port that I drank in 1980.

172yo for the Barbeito Malvazia Madeira 1834 we had in 2006. Rather a nice drop.

[David M. Bueker]

A port that was supposedly from 1863. Realizing that such things can be faked I'm not so sure.

A port that was supposedly from 1863. Realizing that such things can be faked I'm not so sure.

Any particular reason for suspicion based on tasting the wine itself?

1862 Rare Old Malmsey - Lomelino

Seems a number of you have tasted some quite old wines. The oldest I've tasted to date was a 1922 Ch. Belingard Monbazillac, quite interesting but certainly not a rarified experience. The 1955 Ch. Suduiraut that a friend brought to dinner one night was quite another story,.....sublime. I've had Lafite from the mid '60's that was just okay, a Weingut Baumann Auslese from 1975, a 1977 Graham's Porto, and a 1979 Gundlach Bundschu Cabernet that all knocked my socks off. Those are the ones that stick in my mind, but I've come to the conclusion that drinking aged wine can be exceedingly interesting and informative, but not as enjoyable for me as wines that still retain a bit of that youthful fruit.

All in good-excellent condition unless otherwise indicated:

Château Siran (Margaux) - 1928 & 1953 (in early July 2006), 1948 (in June 2007), all ex-château.
Château Lafite Rothschild (Pauillac) - 1934 (in mid 2007), auction, oxidized.
Chateau L'Evangile (Pomerol) - 1948 (in late November 2007), auction, oxidized.
Château Rauzan Ségla - 1955 (June 2007), ex-château.
Château Caillou (Barsac) - 1958 (early July 2006), ex-château.
Château Pichon Lalande (Pauillac) - 1961 (early May 2008), ex-château.
Château Palmer (Margaux) - 1966 (mid April 2008).
Château d'Yquem (Sauternes) - 1967 (early June 2006), ex-château.

1897 Seppelt Para 100-yo Liqueur Port; the legendary Australian tawny-style fortified made from grenache & shiraz since 1878 (tasted in 2000).
Needless to say the 1909 is the current release, and the 1910 will be available next year.

After that, similar bit-solera-ish wines from 1939, 1944.
Table wines, nothing older than 55 Yquem (oxidised), sundry poorly-cellared Australian table wines from the 50s.
More disappointments that surprises, I can tell you...
cheers,
Graeme

I don't really know. Probably something like high 40s or low 50s years. I can't remember details but have vague recollections of Nebbiolo wines (Barolo and Spanna) from the late 50s or early 60s being brought to offlines in the 2000s.

I would love to drink more older wine, but I don't have any!

A 1947 Marc Bredif Vouvray, tasted in 1995, I think. Actually now I really think hard about it, it was in 1997, on someone's 50th birthday. I voted 40-49 years, and really should have been 50-59. Oh well.
I can still taste the concentrated apricot jam flavours and viscosity of that amazing wine.

That reminds me, I have also tasted a 50 year old sherry on someone's 50th birthday. It was a Saltrams Wines Pinnacle Selection Amontillado Sherry 1951 - Australian sherry. I know there is another one stashed away to open in 2011.

Neil may remember if we have tasted anything older, but I don't think so.

I voted 40-49 years (Montrachet from the 60"s tasted in the current decade.) This doesn't count solera-produced fortified wines that might have a portion from 80 years ago.

I haven't tasted many really old (>25 or 30 years) wines, but the oldest I've had - and one of the very best as well - was a 1957 Huet Vouvray Clos du Bourg Demi-Sec that Brad Kane had brought to a dinner. Amazing wine.

Back in 2002, I cleared out my "cellar" (read: closet). I had a couple of wines older than 20 years. One was a Cantenac Brown, perhaps a 1982. We also had Valley View Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, 1979 and 1980, IIRC. Perhaps 1978 and 1979. The Bordeaux was quite good, one of the most pleasing wines I have ever tasted. the older of the VVV wines was quite good, but the younger not as pleasant. Storage conditions were less then optimal, as I was in the Navy from the time I bought them until 1997, moving every couple of years, and they tended to be stored on their sides in an apartment closet right up until consumption. However, that convinced me that I prefer aged wines, and that has been my quest since.

1862 Rare Old Malmsey - Lomelino

Ditto!
I have tasted several 19th century Madeiras, but that is oldest
Oldest living dry wines I've tried are couple Barolos from 30s.
Rogov, where the 17th century Madeiras with Broadbent? I didn't think they started vintage dating till 18th century. but know there were those 2 bottles uncovered in London with notation/,

A relative youngster for me today - an 1845 Madeira. See my tasting note at viewtopic.php?f=29&t=27453

Best
Rogov

Were the 17th century Madeiras with Broadbent? I didn't think they started vintage dating till 18th century. but know there were those 2 bottles uncovered in London with notation/,

Dale, Hi....

Indeed few Madeira wines were vintage dated until the second and third decades of the 18th century, but many of the older bottles were "etched" (in this case using the term loosely as the bottles were simply scratched with diamonds to mark the date). Many of those markings were so superficial that they became lost over time but some did, thankfully hold in place.

Indeed as well the Madeira wines were tasted not with Broadbent but at Christies. The older Tokaji wines are a far longer and somewhat controversial story so I shall not go into that here.

Best
Rogov

Can't match the experiences most of you have had, but I did get to try a '71 d'Yquem in the late '90s. It was a memorable experience. I got it at Rex Wine & Spirits in D.C. for about $25 in 1978.

The oldest wine I've had was a 1795 vintage Barbeito Terrantez Madeira (notes at http://www.winetasters.ca/WSTNotes/ntxmas95.html), tasted along with 40 or so other members of the Winetasters Society of Toronto at our 1995 Christmas party.

I have an interesting story about that party - one of the then-directors was also a member of a Madeira tasting club which had just had their own Christmas party, and when one of our members commented how wonderful the 1795 Barbeito was, Bill replied "Well, it's not the best 1795 Madeira I've had this week, but it's not the worst either."

The oldest wine I have ever tasted was 1925 Sauternes at the 2008 MoCool which would have made it 83 years old. It was memorable for having essentially no residual sugar left and tons of secondary and tertiary nuances of caramel, spice and dry leather.

The second oldest wine I have tasted, also at MoCool, was a 1944 late bottled vintage port. It was good, but not nearly as memorable as the 1925 Sauternes.