85 Dom with questionable storage history

My wife’s aunt was going to give me a bottle of 1985 (my birth year) Dom for Christmas, until she realized she could possibly make a buck off of it. I’ve since gotten over it…

My question is, is the bottle actually sellable? She thinks she received it as a corporate gift sometime in the early 90’s and it had been in her home near Cleveland since last year when it was moved down here to Florida. Obviously the storage conditions are not anything close to ideal.

I’ve sort of hinted to her that I’m not sure anyone would buy it with that storage history. Certainly not for the price she thinks it would fetch. What do you all think? Could it potentially sell? Or do I have ammunition to convince her to enjoy it herself. (Or give it to me :slight_smile: )

Thanks!

David

She will have a tough time selling that bottle, even to an uneducated consumer, and if she does sell it, I don’t think she’ll get much. I had a bottle of very casually stored (just in a cabinet somewhere) 80s something Dom almost 10 years ago and it was bad, so I don’t think you’re missing out too much.

I think her odds of selling it at any price are quite low. Many brokers and auction houses will accept single bottles of something really rare like Le Pin or a bottle of DRC, but a single bottle of Dom Perignon 1985- even in perfect condition- is not worth the hassle for the relatively small profit that will result.

Additionally, and I say this as a wine cellar appraiser with over 20 years experience (sideline- not my main source of employment), certain things raise red flags with resellers. Single bottles of Dom are a prime example since it is very common for a person to have one they got as a gift or bought for a special occasion and then stuck in a cupboard for several years. And so it is extremely common for people to go to resellers with just or two bottles of Dom Perignon which have been stored in a home. This makes for a pretty much automatic no when inquires come through.

Champagne is fragile- and even a few weeks at room temperature will have an impact that will be evident when the wine is fully mature. Dom is unusual in that when heat damaged it often takes on a peppermint candy kind of sweetness that is not entirely unpleasant. So even badly cooked Dom can taste appealing to those who have never had mature and properly stored examples. I saw it just last year actually- someone opened a completely roasted bottle of older Dom at an event with mostly non-wine geeks, and almost everyone loved it because they had no idea it was damaged.

Thanks for the informative replies, guys.

Interesting about the peppermint qualities. If I can ever convince her to open it, I’ll let you know what kind of state it was in.

Thanks!

I might be willing to part with $50 to try the bottle…maybe if the color looked ok. You’re not missing out in my mind.