Hi my name is konstantin baum master of Wine and i recently rediscovered this Old mystery bottle in my cellar it was Given to me a few years ago and the only Thing i really know about it is that it Was produced a long time ago in 1937 Before the beginning of the second world War so today i’m going to do some Detective work to find out what the Story behind this wine is and of course I’m going to open this 85 year old Bottle together with you is it going to Be cheap plonk or a drop from paradise We will find out ready set Go [Music] Before i jump into this video if you’re New to this channel and want to learn More about wine please do subscribe but Now let’s learn more about this wine as You can see the label of the bottle is Pretty much gone but the bottle itself Gives off some valuable clues different Wine regions use different bottle shapes Bordeaux for example uses bottles with Shoulders whereas in germany many wines Are bottled in schlegel bottles that are Long and thin this bottle shape is Commonly associated with burgundy it is Used all around the world today often For wines made from the burgundian grape Varieties pinot noir and chardonnay so You cannot be sure that this wine is From burgundy just because of the shape
Of the bottle but it points me in that Direction i don’t really get the feeling That the wine is not as old as the Vintage states on the label because the Glass does look old newer bottles are Usually much smoother than this old Wines usually have a lower level as the Liquid gets sucked into the cork and Evaporates from there this increases the Risk of oxidation and the level in this Bottle is a bit lower than i would like It to be on the other hand old wines Usually have low levels and it doesn’t Necessarily mean that if a wine has a Low level it’s no longer good most of The information on this one is here on The neck label there’s not much there But it’s really useful it clearly states The vintage as 1937 which was two years Before the second world war started it Was a terrible year for air travel Apparently as it was in 1937 when famous Pilot emilia earhart disappeared while Trying to fly around the globe and it Was the year when german airship Hindenburg bursted into flames all the Humanity but it was also the year jr Tolkien’s the hobbit was first published So it wasn’t all bad news in order to Find out whether this wine is any good Though i first need to find out whether 1937 was a good vintage in burgundy if It is from burgundy fortunately there’s Quite a lot of information available on
Old burgundy vintages and i had a look On christie’s website which is an Auction house but they also have a very Knowledgeable wine department and they Rate the vintage as outstanding for red Wines firm and full of flavor at first Underrated now considered one of the Great vintages of that period wines that Were built to last and if well aged and Cool sellers are still great so we’re Off to a good start but now i need to Find out more about the producer which Seems to be qualcomm bay and for that i Need to do some more research let’s go And this is where i do my research so Let’s go it is not easy to find Information on this winery as it does Not exist anymore but i found out that Kolkombi was founded by a wealthy Textile producer in mercury in the south Of burgundy and it was then taken over By his sons who moved it apparently to Nui georges in the north of burgundy it Says here that the kokum befree house Was to present itself in the 1920s as The largest owners of vineyards and wine Producers in burgundy for some reason The house was sold in 1963 to the famous Chevrolet winery the kolkan base still Owned a champagne brand and if you look Closely you can see that the motto kuton Non-du from the neck label still exists Today it’s a bit ironic because it means Translated into english may your name
Last considering that the winery didn’t Last very long but anyhow now that we Know that the wine is from burgundy one Of the greatest wine growing regions in The world it would be nice to know where Exactly the wine is from but we don’t Because the label is so messed up in 1937 only a few aocs had been Established as the whole system was only Founded in 1935 this was the beginning Of the classification and designation System that france is famous for linking The quality of the wine directly to its Origin the more specific the origin on The label the better the quality in General i could find some pictures of Old bottles that looked similar and Check out the quality of this label i’m Really getting jealous and they just say Bogonian the most generic origin but They seem to be anything but ordinary Bingo i actually found a tasting note on The 1937 bugoni reserve prive from Qualcombe freya on wine terminator a Website that describes really old and Rare bottles and he writes that the Color of the strong but full bodied wine Is still young very dense but perfectly Balanced with a great structure and fine Sweetness in this form he will certainly Complete his own 100th birthday And he rates it 97 points Now i’m really getting my hopes up so Let’s start tasting so before we get
Into tasting grandpa i thought it would Be nice to have a bit of a reference Point a young wine from the same region So that we can kind of get into the Style and i picked the 2018 favela Mercury premier crew as heavily Purchased the winery from qualcombe they Are probably the closest we can get in Terms of a real reference point and Let’s open it burgundy is fast becoming The most expensive wine growing region In the world the most expensive ones in The world are mostly from burgundy Nowadays so This is actually not super expensive as It is from the south of burgundy south Of the corridor where most of the super Premium estates are from the cochalone Mercury is producing great wines though And some of them can really rival the Top wines from up north i’m getting out My big glass as this really helps to Make burgundy shine i’m not really sure Whether i’m using the same glass for the Old one though because old wines are a Little bit more fragile but this one is Really young so It will survive this man this is Delicious it smells of ripe cherries Blackberries spice there’s a little bit Of chocolate coming through as well on The pellet it’s super rich and round and Juicy with great freshness it’s still Too young for sure it can age for
Another five to ten years easily and Then it will get a little bit more Harmonious a bit more yeah round and the Oak flavor will be better integrated but This is already delicious this is Definitely worth seeking out i think i Paid 35 euros for it so It’s quite cheap for really good Burgundy and this is really good Burgundy i rate this 93 points top notch Now i know at least that i have great Wine for dinner tonight even if this Doesn’t live up to my expectations so Let’s open it but first i need to put on My sweater because it’s pretty cold down Here Now i’m ready are you so first things First i’m going to open the capsule this Capsule is a little bit dirty but that’s Not a big problem oftentimes old Capsules are dirty just from the wine Coming out of the bottle or Stuff from the outside just sullying it This capsule actually has disintegrated It’s kind of falling apart and this is Not good at all it looks like the cork Is kind of loose I might Actually be able to lift it out of the Bottle i wouldn’t want to use a normal Corkscrew because old corks are always Really difficult so i got this a durand Which is basically a two piece corkscrew And this should
Maybe work for this i’m not really sure Though so this is not how you use it but I’m just trying to get the job done here Okay this is more difficult than i Expected it to be i might even have to Get out my port tongs but i’m trying not To do this this time Okay it’s coming Why does this always happen to me I broke it no i’m Trying to get the last piece out It doesn’t look too bad let’s see I might actually do the double thing now Okay Yeah This is Looking better come on Come on I got it Check this out Look at this tiny piece of cork to be Honest my hopes were up here but now i’m Not too sure anymore considering that The level is so low and the cork just Looks terrible it looks like there must Have been some wine leaking out and too Much oxygen coming in But Let’s taste it okay this is brown this Is as brown as the 1863 port that i Tasted recently And that’s not what a pinot noir should Look like Still fascinating the wine smells of
Figs prunes a little bit of raisins it Doesn’t smell of a lot of fresh fruit Because it has been oxidized but it’s Still there it’s past its peak for sure But it’s not gone entirely on the palate It’s actually quite round and rich the Tannins have melted away there’s still Acidity there so there’s still freshness There And yeah i gotta say It is very interesting the question is Does this wine still perform at top Level and the answer is no it doesn’t But it’s still super interesting because I mean this is an 85 year old wine that Is still there it’s not from one of the Best producers it’s not in the greatest Condition but it’s still doing its job It’s a bit like watching one of those Videos on youtube ways he is 70 year old Doing muscle ups or running a marathon It’s amazing Great that he does that he’s probably Not going to be the greatest athlete of All time but it’s great that he’s still Doing that at this age and it’s kind of Similar for this one i mean check out This color it’s golden brown with a Little bit of red and it’s slightly Cloudy so it looks like they might not Have filtered this wine back in the days Even after a while in contact with air It’s still there it’s quite an Interesting wine i wouldn’t be able to
Put a number on it because i think it’s In a leak of its own but you can imagine That a better bottle a bottle that was Stored in better conditions with a Better cork maybe would still perform Reasonably well on the palate there’s Just so much substance there so another Bottle might have been just delicious That’s the thing with old wines at this Age there are no great wines anymore They are only great bottles the same Wine from one bottle might be absolutely Delicious and from another might just be Gone this one is kind of in the middle Of the scale it’s not perfect but it’s Not entirely gone either so in this Episode of old versus new the new wine Definitely takes the crown but the old One was just the more exciting one and Will make this experience more memorable For me so thank you for watching i hope You enjoyed this video if you liked it Then please like it down here subscribe To my channel if you haven’t done so Already my question of the day is what Do you prefer old wine or young wine Comment down below let me know i hope i See you guys again soon until then stay Thirsty