I had dinner with a small group of friends last night and everybody
was asked to bring a bottle of unknown provenence from their cellars
to see what surprises lay in store. All of these bottles were
purchased from auction houses such as Acker, HDH, WineCommune, etc.
All were purchased more than 5 years ago. The reults were stunning.

1990 Meo Camuzet Clos Vougeot-good cork and ullage was great. The
wine was cloudy and quite brickish. Tart cherry and slightly rotten
mushrooms on the nose. Flavors were quite sharp and acidic with
underlying sweet red fruit but quite tannic and sour. D

2000 DRC Romanee St. Vivant-Cork showed signs of being cook twice as
the cork showed two distinct "rings" where the wine was forced up the
neck of the bottle into the cork. Again, the wine was quite cloudy,
brick recd in color and a very pungent nose of burnt matchstick and
prune juice. The wine was undrinkable.

1996 Chateau Latour-Saturated cork. WIne was dark purple with
brickish cast. Very little nose even after 1.5 hours in a decanter.
Some cassis and lead pencil but overall it was unremarkable, tannic
and quite empty. C-

1996 Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou-Good cork with some very slight
penetration. The wine was quite dark with very little visable signs
of age except for a slight pinkish note at the rim. Nose of
blackberries, cassis and a bit of espresso and cedar. Well rounded on
the palate, soft resoved tannins, saturated with black fruits and
tobacco notes. Years of life ahead. A-

Not scientific by any stretch of the imagination but does make you
say...hmmmmmm. Mine was the Ducru.

On 10/31/12 11:16 AM, Bi!! wrote:
> I had dinner with a small group of friends last night and everybody
> was asked to bring a bottle of unknown provenence from their cellars
> to see what surprises lay in store. All of these bottles were
> purchased from auction houses such as Acker, HDH, WineCommune, etc.
> All were purchased more than 5 years ago. The reults were stunning.
>
> 1990 Meo Camuzet Clos Vougeot-good cork and ullage was great. The
> wine was cloudy and quite brickish. Tart cherry and slightly rotten
> mushrooms on the nose. Flavors were quite sharp and acidic with
> underlying sweet red fruit but quite tannic and sour. D
>
> 2000 DRC Romanee St. Vivant-Cork showed signs of being cook twice as
> the cork showed two distinct "rings" where the wine was forced up the
> neck of the bottle into the cork. Again, the wine was quite cloudy,
> brick recd in color and a very pungent nose of burnt matchstick and
> prune juice. The wine was undrinkable.
>
> 1996 Chateau Latour-Saturated cork. WIne was dark purple with
> brickish cast. Very little nose even after 1.5 hours in a decanter.
> Some cassis and lead pencil but overall it was unremarkable, tannic
> and quite empty. C-
>
> 1996 Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou-Good cork with some very slight
> penetration. The wine was quite dark with very little visable signs
> of age except for a slight pinkish note at the rim. Nose of
> blackberries, cassis and a bit of espresso and cedar. Well rounded on
> the palate, soft resoved tannins, saturated with black fruits and
> tobacco notes. Years of life ahead. A-
>
> Not scientific by any stretch of the imagination but does make you
> say...hmmmmmm. Mine was the Ducru.
>

Egads, Bill!
I've been a customer of HDH auctions since they started up in 2004.
During that time, I've won maybe 8-9 lots of wine and have yet to
encounter a heat-damaged bottle (corked wines, OTOH, I have). I have
no firsthand experience with Acker but WineCommune has the rep for not
vetting their lots nearly as well as a traditional auction house (HDH
e.g. puts a very high emphasis on provenance and cellar conditions -- I
doubt that I could get them to auction off any wines from my passively
cooled, below-grade cellar).

Sorry to hear about your experiences, but I'm glad for you that your
bottle at least turned out to be fine. Those other wines are enough to
make a winegeek cry.

Mark Lipton


--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.cwdjr.net

On Oct 31, 2:08*pm, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> On 10/31/12 11:16 AM, Bi!! wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > I had dinner with a small group of friends last night and everybody
> > was asked to bring a bottle of unknown provenence from their cellars
> > to see what surprises lay in store. *All of these bottles were
> > purchased from auction houses such as Acker, HDH, WineCommune, etc.
> > All were purchased more than 5 years ago. *The reults were stunning.
>
> > 1990 Meo Camuzet Clos Vougeot-good cork and ullage was great. *The
> > wine was cloudy and quite brickish. *Tart cherry and slightly rotten
> > mushrooms on the nose. *Flavors were quite sharp and acidic with
> > underlying sweet red fruit but quite tannic and sour. *D
>
> > 2000 DRC Romanee St. Vivant-Cork showed signs of being cook twice as
> > the cork showed two distinct "rings" where the wine was forced up the
> > neck of the bottle into the cork. *Again, the wine was quite cloudy,
> > brick recd in color and a very pungent nose of burnt matchstick and
> > prune juice. *The wine was undrinkable.
>
> > 1996 Chateau Latour-Saturated cork. *WIne was dark purple with
> > brickish cast. *Very little nose even after 1.5 hours in a decanter.
> > Some cassis and lead pencil but overall it was unremarkable, tannic
> > and quite empty. C-
>
> > 1996 Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou-Good cork with some very slight
> > penetration. *The wine was quite dark with very little visable signs
> > of age except for a slight pinkish note at the rim. *Nose of
> > blackberries, cassis and a bit of espresso and cedar. *Well rounded on
> > the palate, soft resoved tannins, saturated with black fruits and
> > tobacco notes. *Years of life ahead. *A-
>
> > Not scientific by any stretch of the imagination but does make you
> > say...hmmmmmm. *Mine was the Ducru.
>
> Egads, Bill!
> * *I've been a customer of HDH auctions since they started up in 2004..
> During that time, I've won maybe 8-9 lots of wine and have yet to
> encounter a heat-damaged bottle (corked wines, OTOH, I have). * I have
> no firsthand experience with Acker but WineCommune has the rep for not
> vetting their lots nearly as well as a traditional auction house (HDH
> e.g. puts a very high emphasis on provenance and cellar conditions -- I
> doubt that I could get them to auction off any wines from my passively
> cooled, below-grade cellar).
>
> Sorry to hear about your experiences, but I'm glad for you that your
> bottle at least turned out to be fine. *Those other wines are enough to
> make a winegeek cry.
>
> Mark Lipton
>
> --
> alt.food.wine FAQ: *http://winefaq.cwdjr.net- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I don't know which wines came from where Mark (mine came from Acker
Merrill) but I felt that the 2 burgs suffered from heat damage for
sure. No physical inspection of the capsule or bottles revealed
anything of note. I think the Latour was just poorly stored in
general. The label was in poor condition (dirty) the fill was a bit
low for it's age.