Old wines

I met some neighbours while walking today, and they stopped me and (because they'd read about my book in the local newspaper) asked me about keeping wines.

They said they wanted to know how long (unopened) wines and Champagnes would last before 'turning to vinegar', so I talked about aging etc.

Then they told me that they had a lot of wines which they weren't drinking fast enough and so, just before Christmas, they had taken several cases of the 'really old wines' to the council rubbish tip.

"How old were these wines", I asked

They were from the 2002 & 03 vintages.

They're right, you know. I'd be happy to take all those old wines off their hands--with a modest transport fee added, of course.

Priceless, Peter. It shows that we may be separated by a common language, but American and British consumers could be joined by ignorance.

Reminds me of the story of my brother's friend, who lives in Maine. They shipped some live lobsters to friends out of state. Several months later, when they never heard anything from them, they called and asked how the lobsters were. The friend replied, "Well, when they arrived, although they were still alive, they had turned greenish brown and weren't red, so we threw them out."