WINE GUIDES · WOUTER PARENT
Buying an old wine collection: what to check
An old collection can contain wonderful surprises. It can also contain bottles whose best days are long gone. Age alone tells you little about how the wine has been stored or what it will taste like.
Ask about storage history
Find out where the bottles have been kept and whether they have experienced heat or repeated moves. A consistent history is more useful than a vague claim that the wine has always been in a cellar.
Inspect the bottles
Look at fill levels, leakage, cork position and capsule condition. These signs need to be considered together and in relation to age and bottle type. A stained label can tell you about storage conditions, but it does not settle the condition of the wine inside.
Expect variation
Two bottles of the same wine may have developed differently. If possible, taste a representative bottle and keep your expectations realistic. Wouter has encountered both lovely old wines and bottles with crumbling corks, tired fruit and pronounced oxidation. An attractive label does not decide what is in the glass.
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