I have a few unopened bottles of good quality chianti vintage 1975. Are they still drinkable?

Question

I inherited some wine from my grandfathers wine cellar. He bought a lot of wine about 20 years ago and then found out that he couldn't drink it due to health reasons. He kept it stored in the basement at a cool temperature. He had a lot of different kinds of wine and many different brands so I am not going to list all of them here. I was just curious weather or not wine that old is still drinkable. Thanks a lot.

Answer 1

It could be. Chianti can last quite long if preserved in the right way. If you find bottles of Rosso di Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino, Barolo,  with DOC or DOCG mark you have found a treasury. Each bottle can be valued hundreds of  USD.

I.e. a standard Barolo or Brunello of 1975  has a price between 100 and  300-400 USD per bottle and more (taxes and transportation excluded, c/o the owner, wholesale price).

Conditions to believe it will be good are linked to the way the wine was preserved. If wines were not exposed to light too long, not to temperature shock and the basement was cool but not freezing, there is a good chance, if bottles were kept horizontally , the plug is a cork plug, is not apparently damaged... well you have a good chance.

Wine should be open several hours before drinking it: for wines so old, I suggest at least 3 to 4 hours before and to take them out of the bottle and into a decanter, paying attention to do not pick up the residues on the bottom of the bottle. At this point you may examine the colour against a natural light. If the colour is brownish on the sides it is possible your wine has become more of a liquor (a kind of Marsala or Port). Well, you have just to try, but pay attention to do not destroy rare bottles.

White wines have usually a much shorter life once in bottle