Pretty iffy at that age - so nice when you luck out - makes you feel better about the old wines you may have taken a chance on that didn’t pan out. No flies on that bottle…oh, wait…
Bill,
I certainly lucked out.
Cheers,
Doug
The hard part is acting like you never had any doubt that it would be brilliant. That can be hard to pull off… ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
I’m a huge Mouches fan, and like a lot of '91s, but didn’t love the '91 Mouches. At a vertical about 10 years ago it wasn’t dead, but was a bit short and hard. It’s the only CdMouches I ever remember being disappointed in (other than corked or cooked bottles). I think Cote de Nuits is more dependable in 1991.
Bill,
In this case the crumbling, wine-soaked cork with fungus on top had me apologizing to the wife about impulse buying, so expectations were set appropriately low. There was ultimately joy in Mudville, however.
Dale,
Good historical perspective. I have not had an opportunity to sample a Cote de Beaune from 1991.
Cheers,
Doug
In terms of corks, I can bet that!
We set up a wine dinner to honour and drink some older wines. One of the bottles was a jeroboam of a fairly old Pomerol (IIRC). With all of the attendees seated, my friend ceremoniously went to uncork the wine (which was old enough that we feared for its condition and didn’t want to open ahead and maybe have it die before we tasted it). That size of bottle is the break from the standard sized cork to a larger one. When my friend touched the cork with the corkscrew, with everyone watching, the cork simply dropped into the bottle…(the wine was good, though!). Good job the cork hadn’t done that while laying in the cellar…
Speaking of corks, I once had an old style Priorat - the sort that I doubt they make any more - can’t see through them for about 20 years even if you hold them up to the sun, and they throw a sediment you wouldn’t believe. I pulled a 25 year old one to sample and when I went to open it, there was no cork. Nor were there any remnants in the bottle. They had bottled this one without a cork, the lead capsule wasn’t one that had any holes, and the sediment in the wine had dried and sealed it up for the next quarter century. I ended up pouring it down the drain as I felt that drinking/tasting something that had been in direct contact with lead might be contraindicated from a health point of view.
Bill,
Great cork stories. This wine somehow survived a somewhat dodgy cork situation.
Cheers,
Doug
I opened a bottle of the 1947 last year, only to find it was Blanc not Rouge. The wine was extraordinary once it had opened up. Truffled honey on toast would be an apt descriptor.
Stephen,
Interesting. I happened upon a single bottle of 2002 Clos des Mouches Blanc this past year and went for it but have not opened it yet. Per your note there appears to be no rush!
Cheers,
Doug
I think you trumped the ‘unlikely to be good, turned out to be great’ prize there! Might be time to buy a lottery ticket. I was recently reading Steven Spurrier’s book and among the many impressive tastings he did over his life were a few with Burgundy producers who pulled out ridiculously old (50+ years) white Burgs that were excellent.
(Red) Clos des Mouches has been a fave of mine for decades - rivalled only by the odd Jadot Clos des Ursules, and recently a surprise bottle of Prieur Les Champs Pimont that was especially good. This 79 Drouhin should be looked at as the Burgundian wine gods smiling favourably on Doug - I envy him!
I opened a bottle last week. My advice is to forget about this wine in your cellar for at least ten more years, ideally many more.
Asher,
Sounds like sage advice. Would be interesting to know if the 2015 was mostly primary at this point versus going into a shell already.
Cheers,
Doug
Doug, I’ve had the '15 three times, in '17, '18 and '19. The last bottle, two weeks ago, was still very primary (and boardmember Sarah K. noted the oak was still very noticeable), young and dense. But each bottle has been increasingly tighter and more reticent than the prior, and the last bottle was drier on the palate. It’s firming up.
Thanks. I’ll wait till end of next decade to crack my first '15 bottle 
Asher,
Thanks for the feedback. Good information on the evolution of the vintage. Should be great when ready.
Frederico,
Sounds quite reasonable. I have looked for older vintages of this bottling and have had good experiences thus far (1979, 1993, 1995, 2007, 2009).
Cheers,
Doug