I appreciated the fact that you left it to me to finish off the bottle.
John,
I added some Everclear to your portion. Much better that way.
First off, just like wine or whiskey in barrel, the external humidity would dictate the potential relative water-ethanol loss.
Second, permeability of a cork itself is, well, a secondary issue. Before a cork breaks down, or unless you have an extremely unusually defective cork, and ingress or egress will be between the cork and the glass. Seams to make more sense, doesnāt itā¦
No unadulterated leftovers for me next time?!
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My understanding, based on Jamie Goodeās books, is that a prime cork allows essentially nothing (wine or air) in or out, through the cork or at the surface with the glass. If thatās true, external humidity wonāt matter (though a dry cellar might over time cause corks to dry out and deteriorate).
In any event, to go back to Jayās query, Iāve never seen anything to suggest that alcohol diminishes more than fractionally, even after decades, unless thereās a bad closure. Have you?
Normally, I love this property but the 2006 La Roquette [CNDP] felt like the ripeness and high alcohol had diminished it. At age 17 it felt tired and faded, despite a great fill and cork. Maybe this would have been better drunk up by age ten tops. Itās too bad since I found their 1998 and 2001 all aged very well. In my ledger, a B-. Drink up!
I am wondering how you can make any kind of comparison between a fortified wine and a wine.
But I have had plenty of aged Chateauneufs which have developed complexity, but not one example of a high alcohol wine that was worth drinking. I still have nightmares remembering the mess that was Henri Bonneauās 1990 Cuvee Speciale, that cost more than La Tache at the time and was deemed too risky to use for a Beef Bourgignon. The most expensive non corked wine ever to go down my sink.
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Mark,
nice that you eventually replied to my posting from 2020.
The problem with the Bonneau was the res.sugar ā¦ the alc. was app. the same as in the Celestins ā¦
As I wrote: itās often lack of structure (destemmed grapes) that makes wines with high alc. āhotā ā¦like Clos St. Jean ā¦
Pegau Da Capo has the same high alc. content but is great wine ā¦
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Iāve had some conversations about this kind of thing with other winemakers recently and in the past. I just published a podcast with Dustin Mowe and we chatted about this as well (I can give you a link if you message me, donāt want to post something here as Iām not sure if itās appropriate to post a link that could be seen as self promotional etc)ā¦ Alcohol is a wonderful preservative, the trick is to understand that different wines can posses a sense of balance at an incredible wide range of alcohols. Iāve made wines over 17% that were absolutely stunning and aged well. If a wine is showing an imbalance however it wonāt likely get better with time. The idea that a wine needs to be below a certain alcohol range to be age worthy is heavily flawed, Iāve seen this to be true time and time again.
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This issue of alcohol and aging is becoming ever more important because of what @William_Kelley above referred to as the āseismicā change in wine styles in Bordeaux, with wines today two or even three degrees higher in alcohol than wines of a few decades ago. Will these 15% La Mission or even 14.5% Montrose (in 2019) age like decades past?
As a consumer I wish I had a better sense of what specific changes in winemaking had led to this shift. As I said above, given previous alcohol percentages in hot vintages itās not just about global warming.
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I had a couple of bottles of this in 2010 and 2012. (Interestingly, they came from CostPlus World market, back when I guess they sometimes brought in interesting wines.) I liked, but didnāt love it, and my notes indicate it was showing heat even at that stage and came across as a ābigā wine, albeit complex.
I hope youāll get that soon, for Bordeaux at least, in the lengthy free-to-read essay Iām about to publish on TWA about everything that has changed in Bordeaux.
I think what we have is, in the context of a warming climate, rootstocks and clones chosen for more rapid ripening combined with aesthetic objectives that dictate picking later. Thatās a knot that takes some time to untie, but how well the wine ages will also have to do with the approach taken to Ć©levage. Choices that tend to favor precise, more reductive results will be more successful at integrating higher alcohols. Anyway, itās a big subject.
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Sounds like a big subject! The mass migration of critics to what by historical standards are incredibly high scores for classed growth Bordeaux (which i realize is hard for any one critic to push against) tends to give consumers the message that Bordeaux is simply getting better and better and erases any sense of trade offs in style. Of course the whole idea of a single one dimensional score makes that difficult too.
One thing thatās been confusing for me is that for a decade now Iāve been hearing that Bordeaux is moving toward much less extraction, precise āteabagā extraction, etc. but with a few vintage exceptions alcohols have tended to increase. In a non-expert way I get that alcohol and extraction are not the same thing but Iāve always thought of them as connected.
Gerhardt, I could agree with you, but then we would both be wrong. 
Seriously my tolerance for alcohol ends at 14.5% and even then I seldom find much balance. A recent Montrose 2019 managed to stay in pool balance, and one or two VCCs are also capable of dealing with 14 plus. But in both cases, the fruit was very fresh with no hint of plumminess or port flavors towards the finish.
I most other cases, particularly at higher levels, I canāt get beyond the first sip or two.
My palate and body disagree with you David. Iām not interested in drinking table wine with up to 50% more alcohol. I also subscribe to the view that alcohol doesnāt often integrate and become less obtrusive; it frequently becomes more apparent and disjointed over time. Or has in my experience and to my palate, which are the most important considerations when I choose to buy or drink a wine.
Only one of many reasons why Iām drinking mostly Champagne these days.
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Well we can agree on the champagne at least 
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What did you think of the 2015 VCC Mark? I know you love VCC and that was close to 15% I think.
I sold a bunch through Commerce Corner. Kept a few back just in case.
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Beyond the fact that alcohol is in itself a solvent, the two really are entirely unconnected. The wines of the 1920s, for example, were (generally) low in alcohol and extraordinarily extracted.
Whatās more, ripe, concentrated grapes liberate tannins and anthocyanins very easily, so working such fruit with very gentle extraction techniques can still deliver wines that are analytically very high in āextractā.
Hopefully my forthcoming essay will clarify some of these things and set them in context.
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Mark,
ā¦ no offence intended, but thatĀ“s simply your personal problem.
Others estimate such wines often very highly ā¦
I do not know any Bonneau Celestins below 14.5%, no matter whatĀ“s indicated on the label.
My opinion is that when the structure (tannins or/acidity) is sound the wines can be balanced indeed despite an alc. of app. 16% or beyond.
Da Capo 1998 indicates 16% (on the label) ā¦ and it is a great example of a traditional powerful Chateauneuf-du-Pape ā¦
Other wines - often in a more modern style, destemmed and lacking in structure, can be flabby and show the alc. too much ā¦ (like Deus ex Machina for instance).