Birthday Wine

[Jane Gillett]

Decided to "celebrate" a birthday at home instead of going out and to enjoy
(hopefully) a bottle of wine that we'd had for some years.

Chateau Branaire 1982 (Duluc-Ducru).

Decanted about half-hour before lunch which was a pork pie topped with
cranberries from a supplier in Cornwall and bought recently at the Saltram
Christmas Food Fair. Will try to find that supplier again; best pork pie
we'd had for a long time.

Then finished around 6pm with BBQ duck breast & home grown veg followed by
ripe mellow creamy Sharpham Brie.

Nice with lunch but to my mind not that special at that stage; it's always
hard to decide just when to open a claret of that age. However, by the
evening it had opened up and was beautiful. Unfortunately we probably don't
have another bottle but I reckon it would last a bit longer - if we do have
one and don't get tempted.

Cheers
Jane

[Stephen Wolstenholme]

On Thu, 11 Dec 2014 10:22:31 +0000 (GMT), Jane Gillett

Post by Jane Gillett
Decided to "celebrate" a birthday at home instead of going out and to enjoy
(hopefully) a bottle of wine that we'd had for some years.
Chateau Branaire 1982 (Duluc-Ducru).

Also for a birthday I had a bottle of the 1989. I have never had the
1982 as it is far too expensive for me to ever open.

I'm a bit of a peasant with wine as I prefer rioja to claret.

Steve

[Jane Gillett]

Post by Stephen Wolstenholme
On Thu, 11 Dec 2014 10:22:31 +0000 (GMT), Jane Gillett

Post by Jane Gillett
Decided to "celebrate" a birthday at home instead of going out and to enjoy
(hopefully) a bottle of wine that we'd had for some years.
Chateau Branaire 1982 (Duluc-Ducru).

Also for a birthday I had a bottle of the 1989. I have never had the
1982 as it is far too expensive for me to ever open.
I'm a bit of a peasant with wine as I prefer rioja to claret.
Steve

How did you like the 1989?

Like both rioja and claret. I must admit IME price for price at my "normal"
prices a rioja is usually better value.

In this case, in the eighties we had a chance of buying a few recommended
wines when they were young, before the prices had become astronomical and
this was one. Can't remember exactly when we bought it but I reckon it
would have been a recommended young wine for keeping at the time. Since
then we've always had reasonably suitable storage ie a cupboard with at
least one wall underground so the temp has been cool and stable.

It was interesting how long it took for this one to open up - good after
about 6 hours from decanting.

Cheers
jane

[Stephen Wolstenholme]

On Fri, 12 Dec 2014 09:15:11 +0000 (GMT), Jane Gillett

Post by Jane Gillett

Post by Stephen Wolstenholme
On Thu, 11 Dec 2014 10:22:31 +0000 (GMT), Jane Gillett

Post by Jane Gillett
Decided to "celebrate" a birthday at home instead of going out and to enjoy
(hopefully) a bottle of wine that we'd had for some years.
Chateau Branaire 1982 (Duluc-Ducru).

Also for a birthday I had a bottle of the 1989. I have never had the
1982 as it is far too expensive for me to ever open.
I'm a bit of a peasant with wine as I prefer rioja to claret.
Steve

How did you like the 1989?
Like both rioja and claret. I must admit IME price for price at my "normal"
prices a rioja is usually better value.
In this case, in the eighties we had a chance of buying a few recommended
wines when they were young, before the prices had become astronomical and
this was one. Can't remember exactly when we bought it but I reckon it
would have been a recommended young wine for keeping at the time. Since
then we've always had reasonably suitable storage ie a cupboard with at
least one wall underground so the temp has been cool and stable.
It was interesting how long it took for this one to open up - good after
about 6 hours from decanting.

We didn't decant the 1989 as we were using one of those gadgets that
hold the open bottle at an angle and warm the neck with heat from a
candle. They can sometimes be found at antiques shops.

Years ago I lived in a house with a huge cellar. I built a rack for
100 bottles but I never managed to maintain a stock!

Steve

[graham]

Post by Jane Gillett
Decided to "celebrate" a birthday at home instead of going out and to enjoy
(hopefully) a bottle of wine that we'd had for some years.
Chateau Branaire 1982 (Duluc-Ducru).
Decanted about half-hour before lunch which was a pork pie topped with
cranberries from a supplier in Cornwall and bought recently at the Saltram
Christmas Food Fair. Will try to find that supplier again; best pork pie
we'd had for a long time.
Then finished around 6pm with BBQ duck breast & home grown veg followed by
ripe mellow creamy Sharpham Brie.
Nice with lunch but to my mind not that special at that stage; it's always
hard to decide just when to open a claret of that age. However, by the
evening it had opened up and was beautiful. Unfortunately we probably don't
have another bottle but I reckon it would last a bit longer - if we do have
one and don't get tempted.
Cheers
Jane

Lucky you! Here are some notes on your wine:

http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=7060&iNote=1555822

The 2004 GV is 45-60 quid a bottle.
Graham

[Jane Gillett]

Post by graham

Post by Jane Gillett
Decided to "celebrate" a birthday at home instead of going out and to enjoy
(hopefully) a bottle of wine that we'd had for some years.
Chateau Branaire 1982 (Duluc-Ducru).
Decanted about half-hour before lunch which was a pork pie topped with
cranberries from a supplier in Cornwall and bought recently at the Saltram
Christmas Food Fair. Will try to find that supplier again; best pork pie
we'd had for a long time.
Then finished around 6pm with BBQ duck breast & home grown veg followed by
ripe mellow creamy Sharpham Brie.
Nice with lunch but to my mind not that special at that stage; it's always
hard to decide just when to open a claret of that age. However, by the
evening it had opened up and was beautiful. Unfortunately we probably don't
have another bottle but I reckon it would last a bit longer - if we do have
one and don't get tempted.
Cheers
Jane

http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=7060&iNote=1555822
The 2004 GV is 45-60 quid a bottle.
Graham

We certainly wouldn't have paid anything like that for the 82. Didn't have
that sort of money then.

Thanks for the reference. Haven't managed to open it yet. We have a bad
internet service and ATM I keep getting messages saying things are timing
out before DNS contact resolution; will try later.

Jane