I found a bunch of old wine on Craigslist in the $15-20 range. The seller said they “weren’t stored properly, so they don’t taste better than regular wine”. To me that meant, probably some okay, some horrible, and if one is a full on score it’ll be worth it, and also fun to buy a handful and share them with friends at birthday dinners/parties if their birth years line up with one of the bottles. There were also quite a few with duplicates, so I bought doubles of most of them. I met the seller at his home, really nice guy, talked for a bit and examined bottles for seepage, sunken corks, etc. They were all over the place, one capsule tore open and though I could see the sunken cork from the neck, I could also see the wine looking down through the hole in the capsule(?). I ended up buying 9 bottles for $100 ranging 1964 to 1987, all from France and Napa. I opened one this afternoon and will add some notes in a second post, and reveal them here as they’re opened. Bottle shapes and colors should give an idea of the style/variety.
Now that is an awesome Post. I look forward to results.
Better run go clean your toilet…
That is why you always smell first! I look forward to these results. This reminds me of the $5 Chardonnay post a few years ago.
Wine 1 -
1964 Chassagne-Montrachet Morgeot
I know nothing of this specific producer and couldn’t find the label online. Anyone with info please chime in.
It looked so bad I figured I’d get this one out of the way with a quick smell, taste and drain pour (I couldn’t have been more wrong). It would also be the oldest dry white I’ve ever tasted.
Front and back labels:
Removing the foil, I got a pleasant whiff of some fruity goodness (but that didn’t carry over to the drinking experience). The cork was like oatmeal and immediately sunk into the bottle so I strained it into a decanter after pouring a dirty taste (lots of cork, etc floating around). First impression was “holy sh*t, that color”, expected it to taste like sherry, not much on the nose, 1st taste was alive and acidic upfront but a little nondescript. About 1 hour in and it woke up big time. Slight honey and nuttiness, more complexity and richness, creamy, zero skunk or flaw and continued to blossom. Amazing how fresh and layered this wine is at 58 years old. I probably yielded only 3/4 of the wine at best after straining it and will finish the rest tonight. Overall - wow.
Bottle 1 - If every bottle in the lot is flawed this one was worth the price. Totally unexpected. I’ll probably reach out to the seller and give him more $.
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
That was the first thread that came to mind.
I spy a bottle of 70s-80s Clos du Val and Stony Hill in there!
OOooo the suspense!
Low cost adventure. Well done!!!
Label says Claude Ramonet. Related to Jean-Claude Ramonet? Seems like some potential correlation.
There seem to be three bottles of this on CT if it’s Domaine Ramonet. No label from this era, however.
How awesome. Worthwhile adventure for sure!
Seems like Lichine must have been a Bordeaux negociant adding some Burgundy flair into his pipeline.
This is going to be a HOF thread
That’s incredible. Lichine had H Jayer wines too.
I also love this as a data point for people who worry about storage conditions, particularly for Burgundy.
The reveal suspense is amazing. It is like the Wine Spectator top 10 reveal only better! 
This is very cool. Thanks for sharing, Alex. Looking forward to the next reveals.
This thread made me look, but nothing as fascinating for sale on my local CL.
Idk, I opened a pristine looking bottle of 70s era Charles Krug from my 90s year old neighbor who had it kept in an old ice box closet and the first bottle was utterly undrinkable. Tasted completely cooked and maderized.
Lichine got involved with what might have been the first mobile bottling line ever and thus was able to ‘domaine bottle’ wines that had previously been sold off to negociants. It’s an old story.
Since Ramonet owns lots of vines in the Morgeot vineyard, then this man is an ancestor for sure.