1989 Marc Sorrel Greal- old seepage high fill

Would you buy or pass?

Buy. If bad long-term storage led to that seepage, rather than a weak cork, the ullage would be worse.

For $39.95 it’s worth the gamble to me…

the current price is over $200.00

Must be nice.

For 40-bucks, why not? If it’s bad, call it a wash-sale, but if it’s good that’s cheep.

Personally, I would not cancel a purchase decision based upon what you show here. Other factors you haven’t disclosed about the provenance could bias me. I would expect pricing to be at the lower-middle end of the current range given the condition.

fred

I would pass. there’s never any guarantee of perfect provenance but ignoring obvious warning signs greatly increases the risk.

color seems pretty dark, i would probably want to make sure it’s not murky looking when holding it up to some light. personally i would play it safe and pass on it though. even bottles that appear pristine could have possibly been mishandled so why take the extra risk…

I wouldn’t buy it for $200+. There were a lot of heat damaged wines from the 80’s due to poor shipping practices. It was mostly but not entirely fixed by the early 90’s. I’d still worry that this bottle could have been shipped poorly and then stored well since, preserving the fill.

Or it could have sat in someone’s cold glacial cellar for decades. Rhone fills were notoriously spotty in the 80’s, and a low(er) fill might not indicate anything.

Can’t be current price can it? Who uses a pricing gun these days.

My concern is not about the fill. It’s about the cause of the seepage.

Price-conscious shoppers at Randy’s and Carrie’s store.

I would pass. I’m ok with seepage on certain wines notorious for it even with good storage conditions (German Riesling, vintage port). But even with that fill level, the seepage points to heat damage at some point.

I’d take a shot at it, but not at $200, I’d offer less, $125-50, and reference the seepage and fear of heat or tell them I’ll take it for $200 but want to return if heat damaged. Since it still has price tag is it original owner?

Hard to find wines like this since I don’t come across often I’d want to find a way to make it work, but hedge some of my risk.

Suzanne, I would definitely pass at that price. Current auction pricing is probably $125 to $140. Also there have been quite a few tainted '89s. Kind of like '89 Beaucastel. It can be great or it can be garbage.

Yes at $40, definite no for $200. I recently bought 3x at auction for $115 including fees for reference…

Envoyer.

OK, I’m passing thanks for all that contributed to this thread. Except you Victor Hong who contributed ZERO.