We were given this wine by a friend who had kept it too long and we made the situation worse by keeping it for another three years ourselves. My wife cooked a superb fillet of pork and I though I would give the wine a try. It had lost all its fruit. The wine should have been drunk by 1995 or 1996 and not in 2013.
The wine had some of the attributes of a well matured wine; the tannin had completely softened and there was a slight taste of prunes rather than plums but that was it. I could drink one glass but no more and the rest could not really be kept for cooking as there was no flavour left.
It shows the real difference between a standard quality wine and a good one. A 1990 Château Gruaud Larose would still taste perfect after twenty years or so in the bottle and would have retained its fruit flavour; provided of course that it had been kept under favourable conditions. So, this is one of the reasons why it costs so much more despite its renowned name and rarity value.
If you get a chance to taste both types of wine after more than twenty years in the bottle and at the same sitting then jump at the opportunity. You will be amazed at the difference.
RESERVE DU MUSEE 1990 was produced by Benoit Valérie Calvet. Their website can be seen below
£3.59 supermarket plonk indeed which is as good as wine at 10 times the price. I'll let you decide.
This calls for a blog about self-proclaimed wine experts and pundits.
http://www.benoitvaleriecalvet.com/in-the-words-of-others/
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