Not too old!

Our son and daughter-in-law stayed with us overnight as a last visit before they emigrate to the US of A (well, actually Beth is a native-born US citizen, so it's not exactly emigration for her).

We thought we would look out some old wine to go with dinner, and I came across this 1970 Ch Gaudin in my collection. The grapes for it must have been harvested just about the time that our son was conceived...

We were afraid that the Ch Gaudin would be so past it as to be undrinkable, and the Ch Pontet-Canet (1995) was a back-up in case it was needed. But, in fact, the Gaudin turned out to be wonderful: almost all tannin gone, yet still full of fresh fruit.

Of course, the Pontet-Canet was needed in the event, and came over as a typical and classic Pauillac in what seemed to be peak condition.

And that wasn't quite the end of the story, because we needed yet another bottle of red to go with some excellent cheeses that we decided to eat at the last moment before our Amandine Cream. Let me add that there were four of us to share the three bottles, so it wasn't quite as indulgent as it might seem on first reading, but I dare say that the "unit counters" might have some harsh comments to make and words of advice to offer. Too bad! Red wine is good for you!

(Oh! I forgot to mention that we started off the evening with a bottle of Ossie sparkling Shiraz, so it was truthfully four bottles. Mmm!)