I have been tasting some unusual older wines for which I kept a bottle
or two of each to see how they would hold up with age. If served
blind, I doubt if many could even come close to guessing what they
are.

Condrieu Viognier 1989, E. Guigal: Like most modern Viogniers, this
wine faded much after about 3 years and was not very interesting.
However with very long aging it did not decline more, but developed in
a very interesting way. It now is more like an old traditional
Northern Rhone white such as produced in Hermatage or Cote
Rotie(unfortunately some Northern Rhone whites do not age so long and
well these days).

Nuits Saint Georges La Perriere 1983, Domaine Henry Gouges: This is a
white wine that comes from a mutation of Pinot Noir in Gouges
vineyard, not a Chardonnay. It might taste closest to a still Blanc de
Noir Champagne without aging on the lees, but I can not be sure,
because I have never seen such a wine for sale. The wine has held up
very well with age. There were tartrate crystals on the cork. The fill
was very high, there was no oxidation, and there was clean acid. The
color was fairly light yellow, and the wine was very clear.

On Friday, July 6, 2012 5:28:43 PM UTC-4, cwdjrxyz wrote:
> I have been tasting some unusual older wines for which I kept a bottle
> or two of each to see how they would hold up with age. If served
> blind, I doubt if many could even come close to guessing what they
> are.
>
> Condrieu Viognier 1989, E. Guigal: Like most modern Viogniers, this
> wine faded much after about 3 years and was not very interesting.
> However with very long aging it did not decline more, but developed in
> a very interesting way. It now is more like an old traditional
> Northern Rhone white such as produced in Hermatage or Cote
> Rotie(unfortunately some Northern Rhone whites do not age so long and
> well these days).
>
> Nuits Saint Georges La Perriere 1983, Domaine Henry Gouges: This is a
> white wine that comes from a mutation of Pinot Noir in Gouges
> vineyard, not a Chardonnay. It might taste closest to a still Blanc de
> Noir Champagne without aging on the lees, but I can not be sure,
> because I have never seen such a wine for sale. The wine has held up
> very well with age. There were tartrate crystals on the cork. The fill
> was very high, there was no oxidation, and there was clean acid. The
> color was fairly light yellow, and the wine was very clear.

The "Pinot Gouges" mutation is always interesting, though I've never had one with that much age. Thanks for notes!