Marques de Riscal Reserva - Three litres
Discussion
I have a 3l bottle of 1996 Marques de Riscal Reserva. It's been under a sideboard in the dining room for the last 10 years.
Was going to crack it open with a few friends, on my birthday.
Good plan, or should I leave it a little longer? How long should I air it for before drinking? Was thinking of opening it 12 hours before drinking.
Cheers!
Was going to crack it open with a few friends, on my birthday.
Good plan, or should I leave it a little longer? How long should I air it for before drinking? Was thinking of opening it 12 hours before drinking.
Cheers!
Definitely drink it now.
As it has been stored in your dining room over many years (which are less than ideal conditions unless you keep your house at a slightly damp but constant 13C), then keeping it any longer won't make it mature any more - it may well be past its best (or worse!) even in good cellaring conditions.
My experience of Riscal is that it's an OK quality wine that seems high in tannins, oakiness and acidity when young that drinks best over 10 years old when the tannins smooth out and gentler flavours start to appear. 16 years old it may well be past it, but there ought to be something in there.
I'd be careful opening the bottle as the cork will be in a suspect state (especially if stored upright) and possibly decant gently first but don't hang around as it might turn very quickly once opened and you might lose whatever good flavour there is left once it hits the air.
Edit to add - if you are opening this up for a celebration, make sure you have something more reliable as backup!
As it has been stored in your dining room over many years (which are less than ideal conditions unless you keep your house at a slightly damp but constant 13C), then keeping it any longer won't make it mature any more - it may well be past its best (or worse!) even in good cellaring conditions.
My experience of Riscal is that it's an OK quality wine that seems high in tannins, oakiness and acidity when young that drinks best over 10 years old when the tannins smooth out and gentler flavours start to appear. 16 years old it may well be past it, but there ought to be something in there.
I'd be careful opening the bottle as the cork will be in a suspect state (especially if stored upright) and possibly decant gently first but don't hang around as it might turn very quickly once opened and you might lose whatever good flavour there is left once it hits the air.
Edit to add - if you are opening this up for a celebration, make sure you have something more reliable as backup!
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