RoShamBo

iTrader: (1)

I was given a 1500ml bottle of Perrier Jouet champagne by my work about 7 years ago and its been stored upright and unopened all that time - fancy drinking it this weekend but wasn't sure if champagne goes off after a length of trime ?

Any ideas ?

Cheers.

Dedrater

It turns to vinegar, but I think that is if it's been open?

GlesgaKiss

I'm pretty sure it turns to vinegar anyway. We opened an ancient bottle at new year(probably about 30 years old, lol) and it was horrible. There might have been something wrong with the seel though, who knows!

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

The only way to find out is to open it. IF the seal is good, so should the wine be.

stevebt

iTrader: (8)

I never get the chance to find out as we drink it as soon as we get it

thesyn

Depends on storage, but as long as the cork has not dried and cracked it should be fine.

jay knowles

Vintage will last a good while, non vintage generally is better to be drunk within 2 years. Jay

jiffthejiffmanjaffa

iTrader: (10)

I had a £150 bottle bought for me on my 21st, I kept it until I got a job promotion 7years later and it had turned to vingar.

I kepted it in my Dad's cellar, which is dark and cold perfect for storing wines. He's got some mega rare and expensive wines £50-£500 plus a bottle. So he knows how to store the stuff.

But none of that matter, my bottle was runined. The seal was perfectly intact as was the bottle.

Lee247

Rats I got a bottle when my Son was born, I have been saving it until he turned 21

Hysteria1983

You have to store it somewhere cool and flat, and turn it regularly to allow the cork to stay moist.
If it's dried out then it will taste like crap.

I had a bottle of Moet for 5 years and that kept fine, I had it with my Christmas lunch last year.

Best thing to do is to open it, that way you will know weather you can drink it, or splash some in your fish and chips!

gallois

with wines, you don't store wine with a cork upright as the cork will dry and shrink, store on it's side to keep the cork moist. (screw tops don't matter) Champagne are supposedly better stored vertically as the carbon dioxide keeps the cork 'wet' and storing it like wine causes the carbon dioxide to attack the cork, i think champagne is more at risk stored vertically then horizontally though. the main killer of champagne and wines is dodgy temperatures though, (it starts oxidising above 24deg). But, there's nothing worse than a ruined expensive wine, drink it when you can, and enjoy it when it's good. If you want a 'keeper' then get a decent red or if white is your thing, then a decent chardonnay, keep in a dark cool place.

Dedrater

A sophisticated **** head and can keep a bottle for 5 years, is this a conundrum?

Hysteria1983

Lol, I have not had many nice bottles of plonk, but the ones I have had I have looked after and enjoyed thoroughly.

As for them being stored upright, never heard of that.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

All mine in the cellar in France is stored flat, even slightly cork down, if that makes sesnse.

I've never had a bottle go off yet.

Many French wine makers are moving to plastic corks which don't shrink and aren't attacked by the wine. The stuff we drink a lot of is called "Roches Rouges", and is a CDR red. It's a supermarket wine, but carries either a gold, or silver medallion every year from the wine fair in Orange. They now use plastic corks.

Hysteria1983

I have noticed a few I have had of late have had plastic corks actually.

cookstar

iTrader: (6)

If they are plastic why are they still called corks?

Gymbal

I believe as champagne has two fermentations after the second the lifespan is limited, cork storage quality etc but I believe you are pushing it after 5 years. as it is under pressure the co2 will eventually escape. There are champagnes stored in Epernay that are >100nyears old and then need the second fermentation and they will be very drinkable and incredibly expensive! so the houses can store good ones and release them slowly, or blend it they think it is no longer a vintage.

Hope that makes sense

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

LOL, they aren't in France, they are called "bouchons", which is the same word they use for a traffic jam, actually just a blockage.

Alan Jeffery

A word of advice to light aircraft pilots. You fancy taking a girlfriend up for a flight to get her in the mood for lurve. You trot out to your Cessna/Cherokee, take off and fly out over the blue sea. Everything is perfect. You reach out behind the seat and with a flourish, produce a bottle of champagne as a surprise gift. She is delighted! She opens the seal and starts to shove out the cork.
My advice? DON'T let her do that !!!

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

cookstar

iTrader: (6)

Air pressure?

WRX_Dazza

Oil Pressure?

Leslie

I think generally that white wines will not keep as well as reds. Certainly the seal is important since the oxygen is what turns it to vinegar. I brought some lovely wine back from Germany once, direct from the grower/brewer and was very disappointed a year or so later when it had gone off.

Can't say about Champagne, I am no expert but can only speak from experience.

Les

Alan Jeffery

Pressure difference at altitude, think about it! The cork comes out like a Sam Seven missile, followed by the entire contents of the bottle. Not a lot of fun if you're sat in a Ford Ka sized can at 5000 feet, unless you like surprises?

scarey

champagne is NOT wine, both are grape based but are different drinks.

wine you can lay down and keep

champagne you cannot irrespective of whether it is a vintage or not.

champagne should be drunk within a couple of years once bottled

wine keeps because the cork keeps it airtight.

champagne is bottled with the "air" already in it.

(I thank my french mother for the abve info so if wrong shoot her not me!)

StickyMicky

Was given a 40/50 quid bottle last Christmas as a gift and i was planning on keeping it for some kind of occasion, but now i find out i have to drink it or it turns to vinegar ?

Dohh.

jef

iTrader: (13)

mine had half turned to vinegar,

just hold your nose and down it lol

yes i was sick after

IPALMER

iTrader: (5)

i've got a few in the cupboard from getting married 4 years ago

sounds like i better crack into them to make sure they are ok

Leslie

How long to your birthday than?

Les

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Well it will be the best expensive vinegar with your chips

Tony