Well a couple of nights ago I finally broke down and opened a bottle of 1952 Borgogno Barolo Rieserva that a customer gave me.I was waiting for a special occasion but we had family in town and the day just seemed right. I am no expert on Vintage wines so i was extra careful and stood the bottle up slowly to not shake up the sediment and cautiously extracted the cork. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the cork with no evidence of leakage or breakdown. Then I proceeded to the filter the wine through a gold mesh filter into a clear glass decanter, this is when the first hint that maybe we were in for some trouble surfaced. The color seemed very subdued with browning evident, nonetheless I let the wine sit and breathe for a good 1.5 hours and it seemed to brighten up a bit. Once we got the wine in the glasses and our noses involved everyone was quick to point out the varnish smell on the nose. we proceeded to taste it anyway and it unfortunately had oxidized to the point of no return. Oh well after 59 years you kind of know it is a gamble at best. Sometimes the enjoyment can be not just in the drinking but in the story, the research, and the occasion this certainly makes me want to experiment with more great vintages.
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