Posted: 10:38 Sat 29 Sep 2007
A VERY rough lone bottle bought at the Dreweatte Neate sale 11 months ago.
The bottle had a mid shoulder level, and beneath the crumbling remains of the capsule, the cork was visibly decayed. I.D was no more than a hand written note stuck to the bottle.
The bidding did not exactly take off, and after advancing in very small increments, stuck at £18. This was clearly well beneath the reserve, but at that point it became apparent that the auctioneers' assistant was the vendor - who appealed for a better bid. 'Twenty quid then' I said with a smile - he grudgingly agreed!
Getting the bottle home, I laid it on it's side, half expecting it to leak in profusion immediately - but it didn't leak at all, and only now have I got round to tackling it.
Drawing the cork I found it to be rock hard and almost bone dry, most came out at the first attempt, and the remains were teased out in two lumps. The cork was riddled with woodworm, but the branding was unscathed, confirming that it was indeed a W60.
Given the level and the hardness of the cork, I suspect that this bottle had started to leak, and had been stood up for a long period, whereupon the cork had dried out, creating a perfect seal of crystalline port - I'm a little doutful that this is a reliable remedy for leaking bottles though!
Very tawny as I decanted, quite a lot of lumpy brownish sediment.
First sip - behind a little bottle stink, a good floral note is discernible. Light and quite elegant - dry with little fire.
This might prove to be OK - more anon.
Tom
The bottle had a mid shoulder level, and beneath the crumbling remains of the capsule, the cork was visibly decayed. I.D was no more than a hand written note stuck to the bottle.
The bidding did not exactly take off, and after advancing in very small increments, stuck at £18. This was clearly well beneath the reserve, but at that point it became apparent that the auctioneers' assistant was the vendor - who appealed for a better bid. 'Twenty quid then' I said with a smile - he grudgingly agreed!
Getting the bottle home, I laid it on it's side, half expecting it to leak in profusion immediately - but it didn't leak at all, and only now have I got round to tackling it.
Drawing the cork I found it to be rock hard and almost bone dry, most came out at the first attempt, and the remains were teased out in two lumps. The cork was riddled with woodworm, but the branding was unscathed, confirming that it was indeed a W60.
Given the level and the hardness of the cork, I suspect that this bottle had started to leak, and had been stood up for a long period, whereupon the cork had dried out, creating a perfect seal of crystalline port - I'm a little doutful that this is a reliable remedy for leaking bottles though!
Very tawny as I decanted, quite a lot of lumpy brownish sediment.
First sip - behind a little bottle stink, a good floral note is discernible. Light and quite elegant - dry with little fire.
This might prove to be OK - more anon.
Tom