DRINKING a 159 YEAR old WINE - POISON or PERFECTION?!

Tasting a 159-year-old wine. Poison or Perfection tasting with Master of Wine.

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I have used this glass in this Video: RIEDEL Veritas Champagne
I have tasted the following wine in this Video:
1863 J. W. Burmester & Co. Reserva Novidade de 1863 Engarrafado em 1932 – Reengarrafado em 1942
2011 Burmester Colheita

96-100: An extraordinary wine of profound and complex character displaying all the attributes expected of a classic wine of its variety. Wines of this caliber are worth a special effort to find, purchase and consume.
90 - 95: An outstanding wine of exceptional complexity and character. In short, these are terrific wines.
80 - 89: A barely above average to very good wine displaying various degrees of finesse and flavor as well as character with no noticeable flaws.
70 - 79: An average wine with little distinction except that it is a soundly made. In essence, a straightforward, innocuous wine.
60 - 69: A below-average wine containing noticeable deficiencies, such as excessive acidity and/or tannin, an absence of flavor or possibly dirty aromas or flavors.
50 - 59: A wine deemed to be unacceptable.

Burmester does not have any records of the wines reaching this far back but from what my contacts said this is a wine from the 1863 vintage that was aged in large barrels and then was bottled into large glass balloons – so-called Demi Johns in 1932. After 10 years it was then bottled into this bottle.

Think about what the wine must have seen over the years. In 1863 Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation to free slaves in US confederate states, it was also the year the Football Association formed in England and the year the International Committee of the Red Cross was established and the year Rockefeller started the oil business that would make him the richest man in the world.

On top of that, It was also an extraordinary vintage for Port. Most vintage charts do no go back as far as 1863 but I found a couple of older tasting notes rating this wine 100 Points and Taylors’s – another famous Port house – made a special bottling of their 1863 and sold it for several thousand dollars a bottle.

Taylors are saying that: “The harvest of 1863 was one of the finest of the nineteenth century and the last great Port vintage before Phylloxera spread throughout the Douro Valley.” Yes, that is another interesting part of the story because Phylloxera the insect that destroyed most vineyards in Europe in the late 19th century / early 20th century was first discovered in 1863 in the south of France.

After seeing their vineyards going down the drain winemakers realized that they could combat Phylloxera by grafting their vines onto American rootstocks, that are resistant to this louse. However almost all vineyards in Europe have since then not been planted on their own rootstock and there are some that say that the old – not grafted vines produced better wines

As this is from a vintage before the vines had to be ripped out in the Portugal as well this wine is actually 100% from Vitis Vinifera vines – and from one of the best vintages on top of that. Vintage is a very important factor when it comes to the age worthiness of wines. If you want a wine to age for centuries you have to make sure that it is from a very good producer, from a great vintage, and ideally, a sweet wine as they tend to keep longer.

This wine ticks all the boxes and on top of it, it is comparable to a Colheita Port from today. Colheitas by law are Tawny Ports made with grapes from a single vintage. They should be matured in wooden casks for at least seven years but remember: The 1863 was aged in barrels for 69 years!

[KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Replies to the most frequently asked questions:
Yes, I shared the wine with friends and family and did not drink the bottle alone in the cellar while filming this video ... (ask the @wineking :) )
I did not decant it because I wanted to see how it reacts to oxygen and I am still tasting it two weeks later.
Port Wine is wine. The clue is in the name.
The price of the bottle is unclear. It depends on how much sb would have been prepared to pay for it. I would not have sold it - the experience was more valuable than money for me personally.
The bottle likely came from a family member. At the time (years ago) neither the person nor I knew what the value of the bottle was and I am of course very grateful for that gift.
I own Ah-Sos and a Durant but I don't think they would have helped in this case.
Ah and: I did not die.
Thanks for watching, subscribing, and liking!

[mouthwash]

I think the oldest wine I’ve ever tasted was a box wine (moscato) from Safeway. Aged for about 1 month (the time it takes to go the vineyard to Safeway). It had really absorbed some nice notes from the plastic bag. The buzz was the same in the end, so a win I guess?

[andreanorsa]

When you drink such old wines you should forget tasting rules and just enjoy the moment. You are drinking not just wine, but history. The oldest wine I tasted (fortified spanish wine) was from 1838 and I had the chance to taste together with the best sommelier of the world of 2013. I will never forget this experience.

[thecathode]

Opening a bottle of this age is a true historical moment, the people who made this wine wouldn't have imagined in their wildest dreams that this moment would be shared with millions of "internauts" 🥳

[kendo]

The oldest wine I ever drank was a 1964 Château Nénin merlot. My grandfather gave it to my father on the day I was born. He kept until my 18th birthday. We had the father-son 'man talk' about being an adult and then we each had a glass. I remember not liking it. After my father died we were going through his things and he had the empty bottle in his WW2 memento box, along with other things that were milestones in his life. I still have that bottle.

[prescriptionjuul]

Oldest wine I’ve had was also a port, a mid 1950s bottle my brother and I found in our grandparents cabin as teenagers. Never have I tasted anything so foul

[conservativemike]

I once swilled some Port made by an old farmer named Bill, who scratched out a few acres of rocky soil near Brisbane, Australia. He aged it a few months in old Sparklett’s water bottles. Stuff nearly killed me: 5 points out of 100. RIP, Bill.

[maineaglexproductions]

The oldest wine I've drunk came out of my grandfathers personal collection: it was a 1926 bottle of something French and Red, I was far too young (16) to remember what. The bottle itself wasn't special, but the story behind it: this particular bottle had changed hands a couple of times. My great-grandfather purchased it while stationed in Germany in 1945, from whom did he purchase it? A 101st Airbourne Division paratrooper. Where had the airman come across the bottle? He had liberated it from an SS wine cellar in Berchtesgaden. One can only assume it got there from Paris.
I still remember the git in my grandfathers face on my 16th birthday when he said "I've got something to show you". He poured me a glass, and after assuring me I was old enough and allowed, he launched into the story after the first sip hit my lips, all the way from great-grandad's basic to him being scolded as a boy for going near his dad's "special wine". My great grandpa never had any intent of opening or drinking it, feeling it should be preserved, but grandpa said letting it spoil would be an act of disgusting disrespect, so he saved it for my first drink after great grandad passed.
I know that was a lot more detail than anyone asked for, but I'll never get over how cool it was. An already decently aged bottle gets swiped from Paris by the nazis and brought all the way up to the Eagle's nest, goes the entire war without being opened, is liberated by a US paratrooper, sold to an infantry grunt, survives 65+ years and multiple moves in the care of said infantry grunt, gets passed on as an heirloom, and finally gets opened to celebrate the 16th of some scraggly kid in a My Chem shirt..

[xtfxChallenger]

There are wines in Italy that are over 200 years old and they are still good to drink. As long as the cork has not been compromised and stored in a wine cellar (or some place to help prevent bacteria or contamination from penetrating through the cork), they are said to be some of the best wines to drink in the world.

[ottovalkamo]

When this wine was being harvested:
- Germany/Central Europe was still an un-unified mess of small feudal-ish kingdoms like Bayern, Württemberg, Prussia/North German confederation
- Victor Emmanuel II's Italy had just unified two years prior
- Queen Victoria was 36 years into her 64-year old reign as Queen/Monarch
- The U.S.A. was in the midst of a Civil War as the Battle of Gettysburg raged in July 1863
- Finland got its first railway from Hämeenlinna to Helsinki, its own currency, the Markka.
- The Russian occupied part of Poland had another large rebellion, the January Uprising against the Tsar
- The French had a monarch, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte III who modernised Paris with the new city plan.

[foobar-k]

Being a poor fellow from Argentina, somehow I had the incredible luck of opening not one, but two "Reservado" from the Rodas winery, from the year 1973. One I opened in 2010. I actually cried that day, and I get emotional just remembering all of it. Best wine I'll ever have. It had lost all but the faintest of its red color. But the brown that replaced it was just so clear, so beautiful! So incredible in taste and smell! A marvelous experience that I was able to share with people that appreciated the experience. No regrets on drinking a wine bottle that, in monetary value, actually competed with my life savings at the time.

The second bottle I opened two years later. It was barely drinkable, such a disappointment :-(

[guitarrock]

I've tasted the 1863 taylor, just a few ounces. we drank it over hours. This old of wine completely comes to life after hours of air, it's truly an incredible experience. One of the collectors we were with says he comes back day or two or a couple after opening such old ports and they taste completely different.

[steveoliphant]

Around 30 years ago, I had the opportunity to taste an 1863 port. Not sure which port house. A friend of mine was a wine merchant and he opened it to share with a group of us. The nose was unbelievable, very strong, very round, fantastic. It was the best thing I’ve ever tasted. I only got one or two tiny sips. I still remember the moment 30 years later. I’d dearly love to experience it again.

[gamerkrill]

Ah man, this guy is so wholesome. It seems like he just loves sharing his passion with others; we need more people like Konstantin Baum.

[TheRandomPolishGuy]

This guy's smile when taking his nose to the glass just says everything without words. What a pleasure.

[kaylacarpenter]

Wow. You are so precious. Your passion is amazing. I also cry easily over seemingly simple things. You appreciate the fine details of life. What a beautiful guy.

[ross]

The most beautiful aspect to this video is seeing someone who has already achieved mastery being surprised and delighted by discovery. It shows how far reaching wine study can be and that it really is a journey without end.

[keizersneesar]

Me and my wine buddy had a rioja from 1928, which was surprisingly decent still! We still have one bottle unopened, to be served when it is exactly 100 years of age in 2028. You are hereby invited to join in on the experience!

[LarsonLake]

It's at times like these that I wish we had a way to record smell and taste. It's a shame that only a few people can enjoy this before it's gone forever.

[aclaylambisabirdman]

If you drank this said it was fine, and never posted a video again, that would’ve been a wild YouTube shaped rabbit hole. 🕳️ 🐇

Glad you made it!