I recently purchased a bottle of a 1996 Bordeaux (Domaine de Viaud Lalande-de-Pomerol). Bought it because it was very reasonably priced, and I haven't yet consumed any wine with that amount of age on it. Not expecting fireworks with this one, but I do want to make sure I'm approaching it right when opening and drinking. If some of you with more experience would be so kind, I'm curious about:
1.) Can I use a standard waiter's friend cork screw to open it? It's old but not ancient. I only recently acquired an ah-so and haven't had any practice yet.
2.) I've read that older wines like this don't necessarily need a decant. Do I need to decant?
3.) I've read that people stand up older wines for 24+ hours to allow any sediment to settle. Do I need to do this? Easy enough, but I keep my on-hand bottles horizontally in an 18-bottle wine fridge. If I stand it up, it'll be at room temp. Would you just pop it in the (regular) refrigerator for 30 minutes to cool it back down prior to opening?
That's all I can think of right now, but if there is anything else I should know please feel free to share. Much appreciated!
For 15 years, Athan Zafirov has traveled the vineyards around the world and worked with some of the greatest chefs including Francois Duc and Alan Brown.
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