Thirty-two yearl old surprise

[jaybee]

Saturday I cleaned up my wine cellar a little and found a long forgotten case of 1970 Chablis "Les Clos" 1970 hidden in a corner behind some boxes. Could it still be any good? Wow, it is all green-golden color, vanilla, cream and flinty sharpness on the finish. What a treat. I laid this down there in 1972, along with some "Vaudesir." It's like finding buried treasure. Should Chablis last that long? My cellar must be really excellent temperature, humidity etc. to keep it so well.

[Robert Nesta Marley]

wow. how exciting! i think gran cru chablis generally should last 25-30 years, but i'm not familiar with that particular vintage--and who's the producer (did you mention that & i missed it)?

in any case, i'd decant it for at least 3 hours.

i'm sure steve p. has more to say here...

[jaybee]

I believe '70 was a very good year. "Les Clos" being one of the seven Premier Grand Crus of Chablis was one of the best. I noted the grower and promptly forgot the name. Next weekend I will look up in my cellar book when I bought it, from whom and how much I paid (read it and weep). I'll also write the down the producer's name. It begame with a "V". I expected the wine to last maybe ten or fifteen years, but gave it up for lost. Froim what I have now read, it is not unheard of for a good vintage of Chablis that was well made to last this long. It is a real treasure. I can't wait to try the '70 "Vaudesir", which is in the same class.

[britcook]

i'd decant it for at least 3 hours.

Probably not the best idea, at a tasting a few months ago we tried a chardonnay of similar vintage which we decanted in advance of the tasting. When opened it was brilliant, after two hours it was only fit for throwing away.

[jaybee]

Probably not the best idea, at a tasting a few months ago we tried a chardonnay of similar vintage which we decanted in advance of the tasting. When opened it was brilliant, after two hours it was only fit for throwing away.

I didn't wait to find out. I glugged most of the bottle within the first hour of opening with lunch. I recorked the remainder.

[Robert Nesta Marley]

I didn't wait to find out.  I glugged most of the bottle within the first hour of opening with lunch.  I recorked the remainder.

so you opened it, jaybee? well...

[jaybee]

Not only did I open it, I drank almost all of it with a plate full of smoked trout, kosher salami, late harvest tomatoes, olives and chunks of parmagian. Yummy.

[jaybee]

I remembered to look at the grower this weekend. It is Domaine Tremblay. I see that now Tremblay bottles only Vaudesir as their Grand Cru Chablis, but apparently in 1970 they also made wine from grapes of Les Clos. I have some Vaudesir of the same vintage which I am looking forward to trying.

Domaine Tremblay