Alan. A question on this. I’ve always thought the old Remoissenet were bottled late (out of cask), but are they thought to be “reconditioned” in the sense this topic is referring to? Just curious. The old Remoissenet bottlings I’ve had aren’t bad value for the price they used to trade at (it was about 10-15 years ago that my experience is from).
In Madeira, it’s not uncommon for old bottled wine (many decades or even centuries in bottle) to be emptied into cask or demijohn and rebottled. The aeration actually helps the wine considerably. Henriques & Henriques is particularly well known for this and will list the dates of rebottling on a paper label.
I was always told they were reconditioned/topped off when they did their library wines. here’s a quick link.
You may also be wondering how a 1957 can look so new. These wines come from the Remoissenet cellars in Burgundy where they have been lying as unlabeled “shiners” for years. Now run under Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate Mr. Pierre Rovani’s regimen, the Domaine gave these rare treasures “new clothes” through a meticulous reconditioning process, topping Richebourg with Richebourg, immaculately resealing the bottles with brand new corks and adorning them with pristine labels. These are perfectly kept and pampered 55 year old great Grand Crus.