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1984 white wine - still drinkable?

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Wine Novice

A friend gave me a bottle of 1984 Apetloner Beerenauslese, an Austrian white wine. It appears to be about the color of medium-strength tea, and is slightly murky. Any chance it's still drinkable? (I know, I could just open it ... but I'm curious what more knowledgeable people have to say.)

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Re: 1984 white wine - still drinkable? - No Unopenedwine 14:21:38 06/23/04 (0)
Not all that hopeful, but not giving up.
It is not unheard of, hell, it's not uncommon, for a fine Beerenauslese level Riesling from a decent year to hold up for 20 years.
If you don't know, Beerenauslese is a term which indicates not only grape ripeness (sugar content) at harvest, but harvest method. For beerenauslese wines, the ripest grapes are individually picked.
Unfortunately, 1984 is generally thought of as a poor year in Germany, and we can use germany as a guide (most critics weren't paying much attention to aAustria back then).
I also don't know if your wine is Riesling or some lesser varietal.
I saw this wine sell for 10 British pounds about three years ago - that is not a good(high) price, so that is not a good sign.
The color could be acceptable but murky is not a good sign.
Still and all, buy some dessert wine you like, chill them both and pull the cork. If it is no good, you can drink the wine you bought.
Re: Depends on the wine and how it was stored - only one way to really find out.(nt) - mkuller 14:42:10 06/21/04 (1)
(nt)
- Re: only one way to really find out - newbilong 20:37:57 11/23/04 (0)
  you're on the money, mkuller
  a good way to approach any 20 year old wine is with low expectations -- it might have been affected by oxidation, cork taint or just have been foul to start with. also, it might have developed more savoury characteristics so don't expect a really sweet zinger.
  try giving it plenty of air -- see how it changes after a few minutes, half an hour out of the bottle.

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