Old wines are for drinking history. The 1926 Demi-Sec Champot Freres from Reims, says it was 6 1/2 fluid ounces, designed for a morning pick-me-up, or for dessert after a light meal. The bottle came from a New York restaurant just before the Great Depression. Stored in poor conditions in South Jersey, it has lots of history.
We can only assume it was 12% alcohol because it is not given. It still had a soft sweetness even though it was completely dark brown. Its sugars lasted forever on your tongue. No bubbles remain; the cork broke off when opening.
You can’t score a wine once it’s gone but it does give you an insight into its history: this was Gatsby, Roaring Twenties, Post WWI. It did prove that sweet wines can survive an amazingly long time. The Champagne was listed on a Close Out Sale from the St. Moritz Wine Co. ,at 473 South Broadway, NY. It was marked down from from $8.50 to $4.99 in the “Herald Statesman” newspaper ad on Friday, January 15, 1943. It was already 17 years old then.
Put away some bottles from your children’s birth years and let them sleep for decades. In vino veritas.
Tasted with Dionysian Society Members and with Clemence Lelarge-Pugeot from Champagne
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