Any wine experts?

[DaemonCollector]

Was cleaning out my grandfathers basment yesterday and came across 2 bottles of wine Lancers vin Rosa vintage 1971. I know nothing about wine, would these worth anything? Or even are they still good to drink?

[Santoro]

You obviously came to the wrong place.

[DaemonCollector]

Quite obviously Figured theres quite an wide variety of people on here. Was worth a try

[Clonedsheep]

[SOAPboy]

Was cleaning out my grandfathers basment yesterday and came across 2 bottles of wine Lancers vin Rosa vintage 1971. I know nothing about wine, would these worth anything? Or even are they still good to drink?

Im sure there fine to drink. Id look them up tho and make sure your not drinking 100$ a glass wine.

[GGKoul]

Its a Portugal wine.  It probably vinegar now.

[DrewKaree]

The good stuff has labels that read "Hooch" or "XXX" and come in a brown jug

[Witchboard]

It probably vinegar now.

My thoughts.

[Hockeyboy]

I'm not an expert, but the question of whether or not they are still good to drink is fairly easy: look for wine stains or drips coming from the cork. If the bottles were laid on their side, the wine inside 'seals' against the cork, thereby keeping the cork from drying out and cracking and allowing the wine to seep out. Once this happens, wine goes bad rather quickly. BEFORE you open the bottles, check on a wine forum to see if these are even worth anything or not to a collector. If they are, get rid of them (unless you really want to drink 35-year-old wine???) through a sale or such... If you just have to see for yourself if this wine is any good, go ahead and open a bottle, wait a few seconds, then gently sniff the open bottle. If it's bad, you'll know instantly as it will smell much like vinegar or sour grapes. If it smells okay, pour a small amount into a clear wine glass and examine the wine for clarity - the wine should be very clear, not cloudy, and there should be absolutely nothing floating around in it. Take another sniff of it while in the wine glass and see how it smells.

Anyhow...those are just my pointers...but I'd honestly see if a collector would want to buy them from you first...but be prepared to answer questions about how it was stored: dark/light room, stored on it's side or upright, cork stained/leaking, etc.

[missioncontrol]

night train is a fine wine.....

[jjd]

My guess is that it is vinegar.  Lancers is a huge wine exporter from Portugal.  Think Earnest and Julio Gallo for an example of the mass produced quality of Lancers. 

Given that it is a Rose and not a barrel fermented red (Cabernet, Merlot etc.) then there is a good chance that it hasn't fared well.  Rose is made from black grapes similar to the reds, but just the juice is used in the production (versus juice and skins in darker reds) and the fermentation is done similar to whites that don't hold up to age as well as the dark reds.

I'm certainly no expert on values, but my guess is that it isn't worth much if anything but I would get some expert advice on that.  If you want to drink it, I suggest you follow Hockeyboy's advice. 

If it sucks, you should be able to find a new bottle of Lancers Rose at most wine stores for less than 10 bucks.  Buy a new one and try it out.

[divemaster127]

Its the lid screws on & its under $3.00 a bottle you have come to the right place

[Necro]

Chances are it's vinegar.  My wife and I saved a bottle we got during a trip we made when we first started dating, and it was vinegar 5 years later when I proposed.  And I stored it fairly well (no corking, etc...just...went to crap).

I say, get another bottle of decent wine and make up a nice dinner.  Open one of the 1971's and try it.  If it sucks, have the other and either throw away the other or sell it on ebay as a 'heirloom' or something.  If it's good...realize this is the onyl time your going to have a 20+ year vintage and enjoy.

...then drink the other bottle of wine.