How old is too old?

Question

How old is too old for aged wines? Is there a point where it might be a health risk to consume wines over twenty years old?

Answer 1

The only thing that would get bad, is if air gets inside. Then the cork will dry out and crumble inside the bottle.

Answer 2

There is probably no health risk but some wines age better than others. Most whites and reds such as beaujolais reach their peaks very quickly and decline. In contrast, it was traditional to buy a bottle of port when your son was born and share it with him on his 21st birthday. Some bordeaux last even longer and keep improving.

Answer 3

It totally depends on the wine and how it's stored.  Some wines can continue to improve for years and years and years.  Others are meant to be consumed sooner.  If not they can go bad.  That's the point of them letting you taste the wine when you order a bottle in a nice restaurant.  You swirl the wine around and smell deeply (the swirling releases the aroma),  then take some in your mouth.  Swish it around in your mouth and then take some air into your mouth like your sucking on a straw.  The oxygen and agitation action release the flavor.  If you are like me and can't really tell a merlot from a cabernet, you're basically checking to see if it's turned yet.  If it has, send it back.  You wouldn't get sick from it because you wouldn't drink it.  It turns to vinegar is what it does and you'll know it.  If you're at home, you now have a bottle of wine vinegar and you can use it in cooking whenever vinegar is called for; salad dressings, etc.

Answer 4

Not likely. Wine does not have a condition to turn "unhealthy" at any time during its storage. As stated above it is the aeration of the wine resulting in acetic acid (aka in wine vinegar). This occures in the presence of oxygen, thus the importance of a viable cork, and a certain strain of acetic acid bacteria.

There once was a concern with the lead in the cork wrapper contaminating the wine but that has been resolved and is only an issue if you have very very old wines.

No worry with a twenty year old wine.

Answer 5

As long as it is properly sealed, there is no known limit on the age of wine. If the wine spoils, it was tainted before it was bottled or was not properly sealed.

Answer 6

i dont think so ppl keep them for years for better taste