Old Avery's bottles?

WINE TALK
1

Anyone have any experience with old Avery’s bottlings?
I bought a few lots of wine this fall, and there were some random old Avery’s bottles from the '40s-'60s.
As I’ve opened them, I’ve been really surprised by how nicely they’ve held up.
Some of them are drinking as I would imagine, but others are way, way off.
As in, far too young tasting.
Case in point- I went to a “brown bag” tasting Sunday night and brought a few bottles I thought
might be interesting to the somms and more experienced palates.
'76 Heitz Martha’s had most thinking Nebiolo; NO ONE guessed the Bartlett Estate dry blueberry wine.
Which didn’t surprise me; tasty, but kinda weird.
But the last bottle I brought had almost everyone guessing Sonoma pinot, good quality, 15-20 years old.
Only one of the somms guessed old Burgundy.
It was an Avery’s Bonne-Mares 1953.

I’ve read that Avery’s routinely put everything from brandy to Algerian syrah in some of those old bottles, but
would/could that explain the young tasting (and looking) wine?
Bright cherry, strawberry, cola… [scratch.gif]
It was perplexing to say the least, and if I hadn’t brought/opened it myself, I would’ve cried foul.
Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

FWIW- everyone really enjoyed the wine, but it just didn’t seem right at all.

2

I have had only good experiences with Avery bottlings.

3

Hmmmm. I’ve worked at Averys nearly 12yrs and the late John Avery was a mentor to me. I know all the talk of the adulterated bottlings. This was totally normal for the period but I also feel a lot of the stories are massively over exaggerated.

I’ve not had the 53 Bonnes Mares but I have had the 64 Amoureuses and many from 50s and 60s. Most of the Chambolle wines of that period were Vogue, elevaged at Remoissenet.

Do note - neither Averys nor Remoissenet are known for accurate record keeping so almost nothing can be confirmed.

Had some staggering Vosne village 53 recently. Fresh as a daisy and apparently Engel fruit.

Hope this helps and sorry not tp jave specifics.

Matthew

4

Hey Matthew,
Thanks for the info.
The Avery’s bottles I’ve had so far have been really delicious, especially a '47 Santenay.
The only thing different about this particular bottle, is that while the Santenay was really lovely and quite delicious, it definitely looked/smelled old.
The '53 Bonne-Mares honestly seemed like it was 20 years old rather than 60.
It was still a pleasure to drink, it just had us all scratching our heads.
To make matters weirder, most of the bottles I had purchased were recorked in the late '80s/early '90s. This one probably was as well, but not by the same company (WineGuard) that did the others. Wondering if there might’ve been some shenanigans going on back then.
Wouldn’t surprise me.
Thanks again for the help!

5

So not to thread drift but I try to drink as much Ponnelle as I CSJ find. I’ve had somms tell me the wine is enhanced. But what I fail to understand is why adding Syrah or Grenache would add to the longevity of Pinot when burgundy has an impressive aging record of its own.

6

Nick,
The aim was to enhance colour/body/alcohol to suit contemporary palates, not affect longevity.
Matthew

7

Absolutely. The idea that syrah or grenache last longer is patently untrue. Burgundy was considered a very heavy wine back in the day,possibly because claret was so light by today’s standards.

8

Which makes sense. I think there is a common misconception then.