A man looks at bottles of wine on display at the Vinitaly wine expo in Verona April 3, 2009. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo
Posted on 10/16/2009 9:55:54 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
PARIS – Over the years, the chief sommelier had forgotten they were there. And when the four bottles of 1875 Armagnac Vieux were finally unearthed from the labyrinthine wine cellar this week, they were covered in a black fungus that looked like matted cat fur.
The landmark Tour d'Argent restaurant, which dates back to 1582, is cleaning out its 450,000-bottle wine cellar, considered one of the best and biggest in the world. It is putting 18,000 bottles up for auction in December, an event that has captured the imagination of French wine lovers.
The restaurant is selling mostly wine but also some very old spirits, like three bottles of a Clos du Griffier cognac from 1788, the year before the French Revolution, as well as the ancient Armagnac, valued at euro400-500 ($595-$743) a bottle. The fuzzy fungus is nothing to worry about — it thrives on the fumes of such spirits and is easily wiped away.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Seems cheap to me, but tempting just out of curiosity.
A man looks at bottles of wine on display at the Vinitaly wine expo in Verona April 3, 2009. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo
So the fungus doesn’t send mycelia through the cork?
Way out of my price range, but I’d love a taste of that cognac.
uhh.. woof.
Winegrower Leopold Kerbl (L) and his family harvest Chardonnay grapes in his vineyard in Klosterneuburg, the neighbouring city north of Vienna October 11, 2009. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader (AUSTRIA FOOD AGRICULTURE SOCIETY)
a testament to the winemakers or the cork makers back then.. if true
TorQ. right up your alley. Cognac anyone?
Seems cheap to me, but tempting just out of curiosity.
Cheap indeed - just for being able to brag about it. I tasted some 90 y/o (non-vintage) cognac recently. It was running about $300 a bottle if I remember right.
Polanski interested. Long time grapist.
Yes indeed, along with a fine Perdomo double maduro.
mmmm mmmmm mmmmm
it would be great to sample the Armagnac. I wonder if
the alcohol content has suffered any during the years.
Also how did those avoid being added to Hermann Goering’s
winecellar?
Will you mix it with a coke and a squeeze of lemon?
MD 20/20 2009 about $3 a bottle
Take that wine snobs....
“Will you mix it with a coke and a squeeze of lemon?”
No way - that would be a crime. Neat with a large cigar
on the side :>)
Too old for his tastes.
I remember when that sold for 75 cents a bottle.
Take that wine snobs....
And here I've spent the last 8 years here building the reputation that Slim's everywhere are believers in the finer drinkables. Shame sir, shame!
“Two Buck Chuck” alert.
Seriously, a few years ago I was a participant in an impromtu wine tasting at my friends house.
We had a bottle of Camus’ Cabernet-Sauvignon (approx. $120), a Wood Duck Merlot, I brought a Blackstone Merlot, and my friend, Kelly, brought a “Two Buck Chuck”.
Now the Camus is like “Liquid-Sex”, so that was an easy one to pick out.
However, the Two Buck Chuck was rated higher than the $80
Wood Duck.
You’re not going to believe this but I just bought 4 bottles of this lot at Costco. Just a matter of good timing on my part...
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