On Jul 28, 12:14*pm, Dickr > wrote:
> On 7/28/2011 1:04 AM, cwdjrxyz wrote:> On Jul 27, 12:35 pm, > *wrote:
> >> Question for the day:
> >> If you had way too much money and you could afford to
> >> purchase this bottle,
> >> Would you carefully place it in your cellar?
> >> Pull the cork and drink it?
>
> <interesting information snipped>
>
>
>
> > I would store it in my cellar for at least a few years. If I won a
> > huge lottery amount, I would buy two bottles, drink one bottle in a
> > year or so, and then keep the other bottle as an investment.
>
> I would hesitate in purchasing anything breakable as an investment.
> Accidentally drop it on the floor and it's gone.

I have a bottle of Constantia (either 1791 or 1809) and a few other
older wines from the 1800s, mostly Madeira and Tokaji Essencia. All
were bought many years ago at auction at a very small cost compared
with the mentioned 1811 d'Yquem. They come up so seldom at auction,
that I have no idea what they are worth now, other than likely much
more than I paid. It took me at least 10 years to find the Constantia
and win the bid for it. I have these bottles, some of which could not
be replaced for a long time, if ever, wrapped in plastic bubble wrap
and in individual boxes that will withstand a drop much more than to
the floor. The Constantia is in a wooden box. I have burglar alarms
and also fire alarms and live close to a fire station. I live at a
high elevation where flooding is not possible. Of course an airplane
could crash into my house or a severe tornado destroy everything
including myself, but loss of wine likely would be the least of my
worries if this happened. Some very old wines have been re-corked.
However many that have not been have a heavy sealing wax capsule. One
does need to check from time to time for cracks in the wax and re-dip
the necks in sealing wax if cracks are found. For exampe, most of my
old vintage Madeira uses sealing wax, and original labels, when
present, often are stenciled on the bottle glass. The only thing
keeping some such older bottles from leaking is the sealing wax. The
corks are often so far gone that the most effective way to open the
bottle is to use hot port tongs to break the bottle neck off below the
cork.