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A 200-Year-Old Treat
Ben Killerby Tries a 200 Year
Old Wine That Once Belonged to Thomas Jefferson...
President Jefferson's
Wine "Still Good" After 200 Years
Las Vegas, Tuesday, Jan.
3 - A 200-year-old bottle of Madeira that once belonged to US
President Thomas Jefferson was opened here on Tuesday by two
wine buffs "on the spur of the moment."
| The two, master
sommelier Barrie Larvin at the Rio All-Suite Casino and Resort
in Las Vegas, and vigneron Ben Killerby of Killerby Vineyards in
Western Australia, were examining the historic bottle in the Rio
Wine Cellar when Larvin said, "Let's open it."
"No-one believed
him," said Rio wine waiter Nick
Carey who was in the Wine Cellar at the time. "The wine is
worth at least US$45,000 - someone once even offered him
US$25,000 for the empty bottle." |
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"The cork had
partially crumbled when a previous attempt to open the wine on
New Year's Eve failed." said
Killerby, "So I think that despite Barrie's apparent
nonchalance, he may well have come to the sensible decision that
the bottle had to be either consumed or recorked. I, of course,
suggested that it be consumed - as you would."
Barrie Larvin cleverly
did both. To the surprise of the four other people who had
gathered around, Larvin called for a corkscrew and promptly
opened the bottle. He poured a tiny tasting amount into a glass,
and then quickly poured the rest of the bottle into a decanter.
The decanter was sealed with an airtight stopper.
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"The first thing we
noticed was the intense and powerful aroma of the wine."
says Killerby. "From the moment the bottle was opened we
could smell that delicious Madeira bouquet."
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And how was the wine
after two centuries in the bottle?
| "Before Barrie opened
it, we looked through the green glass of the bottle and thought
that the wine may have lost its color."
says Killerby. "But when the bottle was opened, the richness
of the colour was revealed. Normally Madeira wines range from
orange through to deep brown. This wine was a beautiful, dark
honey color with tinges of yellow - everything that you could
hope for."
"A rich amber,"
adds Larvin. |
Barrie Larvin and Ben Killerby
inspecting the decanter.
The bottle is in the foreground. |
"The bouquet was
extremely powerful," says
Killerby. "It had hints of almonds, caramel and burnt sugar
aromas all mixed seamlessly with the rich, smooth spirit.
Everything in the aroma followed through to the palate, perhaps
without the same intensity, but still surprisingly well. The
palate was reminiscent of raisins. The characteristic acidity of
Madeira seemed to have fallen away, but the spirit made it
deliciously warm to finish. I couldn't detect any fruit flavors
in the wine - the palate was all about secondary bottle
characteristics - as indeed one would expect after 200 years in
the bottle!
There was not much of
a deposit thrown, although there was some coating on the side of
the bottle."
Larvin has not yet
decided whether to pour the wine from its airtight decanter back
into the historic bottle and recork it, or whether to share it
with high rolling Casino guests.
"A lot can happen in
an hour at a Casino." says Larvin
enigmatically.
………………………………………………………
The Wine Label
The wine label is
handwritten and sets out the provenance of the bottle. Barrie
Larvin said that Jefferson died a bankrupt and that the wine was
purchased from his estate. Larvin said that the wine was
purchased by the Rio Casino and Hotel at Sotheby's in 1997.
Larvin says that the
wine was last recorked in 1890. This is presumably what
"filtered 1890" refers to on the label.
The text of the label is
as follows:
Date: 1800
Jefferson Madeira
Purchased at sale of effects
President Jefferson
1st [indecipherable]
by [indecipherable] Philip Israel Thomas
of Maryland 1843.
Purchased at sale of
effects
Mrs John Wetherell - first
daughter April 1890
Douglas Thomas
Filtered 1890
………………………………………………………
Reprinted from Robin
Garr's Wine Lovers Page
http://www.wineloverspage.com/winenews/jeff010400.html
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