Old booze and wine..would you drink it? (1 Viewer)

[Da Guru]

I have read some mixed reviews on this topic online.

We were helping my wife's aunt move this weekend. My wife uncle has passed away in 1996 and he had a bar in his basement that was awesome but had not been used since he passed. When we were moving things her aunt said to me take anything you want from the bar area. There were over 40 bottles of unopened booze and wine. Plus Over 20 bottles of half filled booze on the bar.

The unopened stuff was 5 bottles of Canadian Club whiskey, 4 bottles of Beef Eaters Gin, 2 Tangurays, 5 bottles of Crown Royal, plus a variety of vodkas, also scotch, sloe gin, Galiano, Amaretto, Crème De Mint, Tequila from Aruba that has a bottling date of 1986. 3-4 bottles of Brandy. 12 bottles of Chardonnay and Port wines.

Behind the bar were two cases a beer. Dates were from 96. I know the beer is no good but what about the other stuff? Take a chance and possibly go blind?

 

[IvanKaramazov]

I don't think hard alcohol can go bad.

 

[Apple Jack]

What kind of ports?

The liquors should be fine as long as sealed. The Chard is shot.

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

Hard alcohol should be fine.

The wine depends on how it was stored.

Skip the beer.

 

[cosjobs]

Booze is all fine whether opened or not.

Wine won't kill you but may not be palatable

Ports should be fine

 

[Da Guru]

What kind of ports?

The liquors should be fine as long as sealed. The Chard is shot.

Dow Port 1984

 

[pollardsvision]

The liquor is fine to drink, but that's a pretty disappointing list of bunkered booze. Drink it of course, but it would've been nice to see some National Distillers Old Grand-Dad or something.

 

[seahawk 17]

Chug a lug

 

[The Ref]

My uncle gave me a unopened bottle of Crown Royal with a 1962 tax stamp....

 

[Apple Jack]

If you don't like port, I'd give it to somebody who does. That's probably pretty good.

 

[Evilgrin 72]

I once drank a Molson that sat on a shelf in my buddy's basement for over 30 years. I was fine. No worries.

 

[Abraham]

Booze is all fine whether opened or not.

Wine won't kill you but may not be palatable

Ports should be fine

 

[Doctor Detroit]

All the booze is good, you'll know if the wine is bad as soon as you smell it. It will smell like burnt raisins or vinegar. If you tip the wine upside-down you might be able to see if there is a build up of sediment on the bottom. If so, it might be bad. Nothing is 100% in wine though, look at the cork and if it's still intact and securely in the bottle, it might be just fine.

 

[AAABatteries]

100% guaranteed that it's all gone bad - send it to me and I'll dispose of it for you. YWIA.

 

[sbonomo]

What kind of ports?

The liquors should be fine as long as sealed. The Chard is shot.

this....

 

[Doctor Detroit]

What kind of ports?

The liquors should be fine as long as sealed. The Chard is shot.

this....

If it was stored correctly it can be fine. Chardonnay is not a long-lived wine, an oaked might last for that long but a Mersault most assuredly would not.

 

[otello]

100% guaranteed that it's all gone bad - send it to me and I'll dispose of it for you. YWIA.

aaa is selfless, I tell ya.

 

[Da Guru]

What kind of ports?

The liquors should be fine as long as sealed. The Chard is shot.

this....

If it was stored correctly it can be fine. Chardonnay is not a long-lived wine, an oaked might last for that long but a Mersault most assuredly would not.

The Chard is Saint-Louis Chardonnay bottled by Barton & Guestier 1988 from France. Checked out the bottles in the light and there were no floaters.

 

[cosjobs]

What kind of ports?

The liquors should be fine as long as sealed. The Chard is shot.

this....

If it was stored correctly it can be fine. Chardonnay is not a long-lived wine, an oaked might last for that long but a Mersault most assuredly would not.

The Chard is Saint-Louis Chardonnay bottled by Barton & Guestier 1988 from France. Checked out the bottles in the light and there were no floaters.

Actually sediment is not really an indication of whether its still good. Many grapes (like Cab Franc) throw off a lot of sediment and it has no impact on the quality.

As stated by other posters, if its properly stored it may be good, but whites (esp. unoaked) have a much shorter shelf life.

Even if its good you may not like it. I would recommend donating it to a local wine auction charity and taking the write off (on the chards). I'd drink the hell out of the ports and the booze.

 

[msommer]

Update?

Degree of hangover?

 

[DCThunder]

Depending on how it was stored, you probably couldn't even get the cork out of the bottles. The cork will probably have dried out to the point where a corkscrew will destroy the cork.

 

[The Duff Man]

Dont rule out anal injection. You can get the buzz and not have to worry if the taste is off.