On vintage and provenance

A FEW days ago, I got a call from a friend asking what he should do with a "dead" bottle of Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou 1985? He and a friend shared a complete case of the wine which they had bought from a London wine merchant and it had been sent out by air to Singapore recently. This was the first bottle he opened. A great shame as 1985 is a very good year - lovely wines at the peak of maturity. Furthermore, a complete case of Ducru apparently direct from the Chateau would be difficult to find.

This incident reminds us (a) that wines do have a finite life, and (b) to be fully informed of the …