Playing "What Is the Oldest Bottle You Have Ever Tasted?"
Playing “What Is the Oldest Wine You Have Ever Tasted?”
Bryce Sanders, President
Perceptive Business Solutions Inc.
Professionals ask different questions than amateurs. If you are a wine enthusiast and invite your gym buddies to see your wine cellar, the question often asked is “What is your most expensive bottle?” If you are showing off your cellar to your wine club friends, they might ask “What is the oldest wine you have tasted?”
You don’t even need to be standing in your wine cellar! You could be out at a wine event or enjoying a multi course food and wine pairing with your friends. Having tried an older bottle gives you “street cred.” How are you going to make that happen?
1. Your local wine shop. This sounds like the obvious resource, but it is unlikely to be much help. They need to turnover their inventory to make money. In 2024 you might find bottles on the shelf back to 2020. You might find a few going back to 2015. That isn’t old in wine fan circles.
2. The best French restaurant. Does your favorite have a wine list 50 pages long? The wine list from Bern’s Steak House in Tampa is 194 pages long. (1) The list includes 1933 Chateaux Margaux ($3,000). Don’t forget to add tax and tip. This might not be your first choice for an older bottle.
3. Your wine fan friend. They have a great wine cellar. They are generous. They often invite you over for dinner. You keep notes. One day, they open an old bottle. You take a picture.
4. The auction house selling wine. There are many around the country. Let us not forget the online wine auction houses. You will see older bottles up for auction. If you are talking about Red Bordeaux, 1982 is an exceptional year that should still be showing up for sale. This can get expensive because you need to add the buyer’s premium (often about 25%) sales tax and shipping. This assumes you can ship it into your state legally.
5. Sauternes. The problem with buying wine at auction is you know little about the storage conditions over the decades. Red wine is safer than white wine. Sauternes, a white dessert wine from France is even safer. Checking online wine auction sites, you might find something from the 1970’s or 1980’s.
6. Vintage port. This comes from Portugal. Because it has a bit of brandy in the blend, the alcohol level goes up. It’s called a fortified wine. It can last a very long time. A very good wine store might have some older bottles in stock. Vintage port is not bottled every year, only in exceptional years. 1985, 1983, 1970, 1963 and 1955 are some of the older classics that should be drinking well. (We have enjoyed them all. The condition was fine.) Vintage ports are less expensive than you might imagine.
7. Armagnac. This is not a wine. It’s a type of brandy, similar to cognac. The major difference is Armagnac can be bottled with vintage dates on the label. An excellent liquor store might have bottles going back 80 years. (Berry Brothers & Rudd in London is one example.) Older Armagnacs are expensive. Like cognac, it can keep in the bottle once it has been opened.
It can be fun to get a group of friends together to try your old bottle. You want to make an experience out of it.
Bryce Sanders is president of Perceptive Business Solutions Inc. He provides HNW client acquisition training for the financial services industry. His book, “Captivating the Wealthy Investor” is available on Amazon.
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3dBryce Cherish every moment that life gives you, and have a Healthy 2025! Paul & Lily