My Penfolds Grange Hermitage Dilemma. Down the Sink. Drink Them. Or Try to Sell.

Bargain2020 on 13/10/2019 - 09:42
Last edited 13/10/2019 - 09:52

Starting about 40 years ago (yes I’m getting on in years), my ex wife used to buy me a Penfolds Grange Hermitage for my birthday every year. This happened for about 10 years, and then stopped when we divorced. So I had ten Grange Hermitage nicely stored in Melbourne.

I then decided to move to Brisbane and, soon after, went overseas with my work for quite a number of years. I decided to store my Granges with a friend. I eventually came back, collected my Granges, and discovered that they had been poorly stored. It makes me cry every time I think about it. And we laugh about it often. They had been stored in the shed, and some of the corks had partly come out of the bottle. So one night, we polished these off. Some were surprisingly good still.

This left me with five bottles, which I have stored to this day. Not well I may add. Some of them the level of wine has decreased. Some the labels have deteriorated a little. I doubt whether the wine is any good. But they are obviously Granges.

I have a photo if I knew how to paste a photo into this listing. LOL.
For interest. The vintages are 1979, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1987

Does anybody think there is a market for these bottles of Grange if I declare the history. And where should I go to maybe sell these. Selling them, if possible, is my preferred option.

Poll Options expired

  • 0
    A. Just Keep Them. Memories
  • 6
    B. Worthless. Thrown Them Down the Drain.
  • 9
    C. Try and Sell Them. Declare History.
  • 53
    D. Drink them.
Food & Grocery

Comments

  • thatonethere on 13/10/2019 - 09:45
    +14

    You could take it to a recorking clinic

    https://www.penfolds.com/en-au/events/recorking-clinics

    • mini2 on 13/10/2019 - 14:39
      +2

      Run once every 2 years so OP will need to wait till the next year.

      Gut wrenching stuff I tell ya when they popped it open, pour some out, sniffed then tasted it and deliberating whether to certify it…

      The ones that were certified were spectacular, the borderline one….it was borderline and I did ended up with a bottle of vinegar too. That bottle was grouse.

      • Bargain2020 on 13/10/2019 - 20:10

        Thanks for the suggestion.

    • PlasticSpaceman on 14/10/2019 - 08:07

      +1 from me. Hold on to them for now. Take them to the clinic. Ones that pass can be sold if you want - frequently there will be an auction group there who will make an offer there based on current market price (they act as agents for Penfolds, who buy them for their restaurant) - and the rest you can keep to drink at a bbq.

      • Bargain2020 on 14/10/2019 - 08:48

        Great idea. Kept them this long. A little longer will do no harm. Great excuse to attend and watch other people’s reactions at the clinic.

        • PlasticSpaceman on 14/10/2019 - 09:23
          +1

          Yeah - it's actually a fun event even if you're not a wine snob. It costs nothing (you need a bottle of Penfold red that matches the selection criteria, and you need to pre-book your spot), there's cheese/nibbles as well as tastings of the current wines. Watching the other people there is very interesting - from the couple with that one special bottle, to the collector with dozens in special cases. When you have your bottle(s) checked, you get to taste them yourself as well. Ones that pass get topped up with the same/similar wine (ie if it's a Grange, it gets topped up with ta recent Grange - if you have a lot of the same vintage you can choose to top up with one of your own bottles), are recorked and sealed, and a numbered label attached. Ideally those should be left to stand for a couple of weeks (to let the cork expand and seal properly), then laid down for a year or so before being drunk. Ones that don't pass get recorked but not topped up, and (if still drinkable) should be drunk within 6 months.

          Note that once checked at a clinic, they can't be checked again. If you are planning to sell rather than keep, the best time to sell is at the clinic or soon after.

  • mskeggs on 13/10/2019 - 10:08

    When you say poorly stored, do you mean lying down in a garage/cellar where they got dirty and the odd snail crawled over the labels.
    Or standing up in the cupboard above the fridge?

    If they were laid down so the corks didn’t dry out, they are likely ok. The recorking clinic would be the definitive way to find out.

    • Bargain2020 on 13/10/2019 - 10:29

      They we’re unfortunately stored by my friend in the garden shed, standing up. Just looking at the bottles today, four of them are in surprisingly good shape.

  • Bargain2020 on 13/10/2019 - 10:31

    Does anybody think they might appeal to a “collector” trying to complete their collection? And if so, where I should try and find this type of person. Unfortunately, against rules to advertise on Gumtree or eBay.

  • Baysew on 13/10/2019 - 10:40
    +10

    Courier one to a state Premier.

  • [Deactivated] on 13/10/2019 - 11:29
    +2

    I believe you have to shoot them as target practice now.

  • try2bhelpful on 13/10/2019 - 12:18

    Sounds like you should've kept the wife and ditched the friend. We have a friend who was buying them, back in the day, when you could get them for $25 a bottle. We have been the happy recipients of his foresight on a few occassions.

    • Bargain2020 on 13/10/2019 - 20:12

      That’s about the price my wife was buying them for.

    • Bargain2020 on 13/10/2019 - 20:14

      If you knew my mate, you would definitely forgive him. LOL

      • neirboca on 14/10/2019 - 07:42

        Did you ask or tell him how you wanted them stored? If you didn't, no one to blame but yourself.

  • Bourb on 13/10/2019 - 14:23

    A friend of mine bought a bottle of Grange from a Bottleshop, unfortunately it had been kept on a top shelf that copped full sunlight for an hour or two each day, but he bought it anyway.
    He bought a Wine Fridge and lovingly stored the Grange for another 5 years. We finally opened it and YUK, it tasted like old wet dog mixed with vinegar!!!

    If you want to sell it on the InterNet you will need a Liquor Licence, so most people just List the 'Bottle' for sale and not what's in it (but I'm not certain if that is allowed anymore?).

    • mini2 on 13/10/2019 - 14:40
      +1

      Nah you can flog them off through the likes of Langton's, Wickman and a couple of others.

      • Bargain2020 on 13/10/2019 - 20:07

        Thanks for your suggestion.

      • bilmc on 14/10/2019 - 08:20
        +1

        I had the same dilemma a few years ago. Ended up selling them through MW Wines in Collingwood. For Granges there was no sellers commission. And the old caveat emptor applies, the buyer takes the risk that the wine may be off. I was delighted with the outcome

        • Bargain2020 on 14/10/2019 - 08:43

          Thank you for this information. I’ll contact them. I’m going down to Melbourne very soon.

  • mini2 on 13/10/2019 - 14:41

    Come to think of it, where's OP and anyone near OP has a Coravin? You could always use a Coravin to get some out to see if it's still good or destine for the sink.

    • Bargain2020 on 13/10/2019 - 20:11

      Had to Google that one. They’re expensive.

  • thatonethere on 13/10/2019 - 20:17
    +1

    I had a 1972 Grange which I bought in a young and foolish moment. Had it for my 40th birthday after it living under the stairs for many years. A red like a delicious bulldozer.

    Sold the empty bottle on eBay for $55.

    • Bargain2020 on 13/10/2019 - 21:19

      I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks.

  • magic8ballgag on 14/10/2019 - 08:22

    Wine should be drunk and savoured, not kept and sold for a profit!

    • Bargain2020 on 14/10/2019 - 08:41

      Off topic.

      • magic8ballgag on 14/10/2019 - 09:49

        How so? OP is asking whether they should drink or try to sell some aged bottles of wine.

    • mini2 on 14/10/2019 - 14:43

      Yeah nah. Try say that to the venture capitalists who’s lucky enough to get a decent Wendouree allocation then proceed to flog them off on Langton’s.

    • onionstick on 30/10/2019 - 02:40

      It belongs in a museum!

  • sietes on 14/10/2019 - 11:28

    You can try the Penfolds clinic, but be aware that if they fail they are worthless.

    Your other option is to sell them via a wine auction. I use MW Wines in Melbourne and the service is excellent. You can email them photos and they will give you honst advice and valuations.

    Of course you can always try drinking them… but don't expect much if they have been stored poorly for such a long time.

  • AS2035 on 14/10/2019 - 14:05

    Penfolds run workshops. they check your cork and re cork the wine.. get them to check the bottles next year.

    https://www.penfolds.com/en-au/events/recorking-clinics

  • AS2035 on 14/10/2019 - 14:11

    Not sure if you can edit the post but this is where it should have gone..

    URL/Link: *
    Do not upload a thumbnail. An image will be generated automatically from the link you provide. Only insert your own image into the URL/Link field when no direct link to the deal exists. Click Here to submit a picture or a PDF file.

  • Bargain2020 on 16/10/2019 - 22:02

    Thanks everybody for their input and recommendations.

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