I am not talking about the bottles that have come through hurricanes, written off by insurance companies, repurchased for pennies on the dollar and then resold. For the most part, you should be able to figure out these bottles from good ones.
I am talking about damaged labels that have come from high humidity cool cellars. I have found in general (not always of course) that the ullage is far less than well stored bottles in a dry cellar. And the wines show beautifully.
I just bought a cache of around two cases. All Saint Julien, mostly 1982 and 1986 Gruaud with a smattering of Beychevelle. A few, around a third, either had remnants of a label, and in one case no label at all, but we identified it by cutting the capsule. Levels were into the neck, except for two high shoulder.
Apart from a corked bottle, they have been really excellent; in fact the 1986 Gruaud was better than I could have ever expected. This is a repeat of many past purchases, and wines that I have no problem in buying.
And of course they are far cheaper than bottles with a perfect label. One of the few win wins in the wine world.
Plastic wrapped labels are for the perverse. I will take a half missing moldy label any day of the week, especially with the discount that usually accompanies such a condition.
We just had a 1967 Beaulieu Vineyards Private Reserve that came from a humid cellar and its label was in tatters. The cork was perfect, the level was in the neck, and the wine was glorious. I’m not really backfilling at the moment, but just another data point.
Sure, but the whole action is being able to trust that they were in fact cool cellars. Which is why provenance trust is always essential (or at least part of the risk calculation)
Good to hear that a collector such as yourself isn’t thrown off by moldy labels. My cellar is temperature controlled, but I live in a humid environment and do no dehumidify and don’t wrap labels. Curiously, the mold on labels isn’t uniformly distributed as it really affects some labels (G. Conterno the worst) and doesn’t seem to touch others (Clos Rougeard).
I couldn’t agree more - I always look out for those bottles and I’ve never had a bad one. I too had a wonderful Gruaud 82 with no label a few years back - 40% less than the normal price for an absolute peach of a wine.
Hi Nathan, I used to run a dehumidifier in the summer in NC to target below 80% rel humidity. Then nothing molded. Like you it was pretty interesting how some producers never molded while other did pretty fast at the same NC humidity levels.
Just pulled this from my Wine Enthusiast fridge.
My basement hits some high humidity levels in summer and I had noted some labels in this condition.
I have run a dehumidifier he past couple of summers so hopefully that is helping to mitigate. This only seems to happen on the lower racks and on the back bottles of the 2 deep racks, not the front.
The bottles with warped or mold affected labels have all been terrific.
I seek out these bottles. They are rarely purchased by restaurants or wine stores as those customers expect pristine labels. Give me a tattered label anyday.
Then again, I like buying wines with no labels. Pot luck. One time I ended up with a 1919 Chateau Palmer that was stunning. You never know.
You mean like this? A bottle stored for some years in a friend’s overly humid cellar, where my wood cases became mold breeding grounds. (Pulled for tomorrow.)
I recently bought a case and a half of older Bordeaux. Most of them had label damage, and some had fragments of labels or none at all, which shows they spent time in a wet cellar.
I have always had a soft spot for these wines, as there tends to be little or no ullage. And as a bonus, they are difficult to sell, and fetch far less money than pristine bottles.
All this
preamble is a way to lead into how good the wines are from this cellar. A 1986 Gruaud Larose was superb, having shed much of the hard tannins. It just beat out a 1982, also a splendid example. Today I opened a Beychevelle 1982 to go with the duck. A fair amount of cassis, but a strong leather component , flowers and a touch of iodine. It continued to evolve, and the finish was layered and extremely long. A wonderful wine.
When I visit wine producers, they typically do not have labels on the wines they are aging in the bottle, or on their “rarer” older wines, because the labels would get moldy if the labels were on in their humid wine cellar. Is there a thinking that bottles with moldy labels - as opposed to wine stains on the label, corks that are protruding out, etc., are problem wines?
Interesting, I have never heard that concern before.
I don’t know now often it is an reasoned or articulated concern about the way the bottle was treated. I would guess that in most cases it’s just an asthetic objection. If you’re paying up for old wines, you want the bottle to look nice.
I have a passive wine/root cellar 9 feet undergound. I have to wrap all my bottles or the labels become unreadable in about 8 years. I have a few that I never wrapped to show guests.
Of the 23 bottles I purchased, one had a slightly protruding cork. The rest were firm. I used a Durand to extract the cork, all of which seemed moist and solid. Levels were at worst high shoulder, but most are into neck. Apart from one corked bottle, the seven I have drunk have been incredible examples of wines I have drunk before, and know pretty well.
In one case, I served the 1986 Gruaud where the tannins seemed fine. Within a month a friend who was at my dinner, had a bottle from a different cellar, and the wine showed the rusticity and the hard tannins he would have expected. Not sure what conclusion to draw from that.
As for aesthetics, I am not sure I care too much. Enough to authenticate, enough to know what I am drinking, and I am fine. A pretty label from a recent chateau rerelease is a wonderful thing, but I am paying for the provenance there, and the label is a sign of provenance.
Buying for resale requires a completely different set of criteria. I know a beat up label will lose two thirds of the market, and a significant percentage of price. But as I m buying the bottles for myself and share with friends, I am good, very good with them.
