For Sale: Old wine in old bottles

Paul Heymont 5/24/182:00 PM

Three bottles of wine that outlasted the French Revolution and Napoleon, the Industrial Revolution and two world wars will be auctioned this Saturday.

The bottles of Vin Jaune (Yellow Wine) were made in 1774 by Anatole Vercel in Arbois, in eastern France. His descendants are selling them at auction in a nearby town, Lons-le-Saunier.

Brigitte Fenaux, who heads the auction house, says they are the oldest wine for sale in the world. Another bottle from the same vintage was sold in 2001 for a price in today's money of $67,000 and one in 2012 for $46,000.

An expert panel that tasted a bottle in 1994 rated it 9.4 out of 10, and noted hints of "walnuts, spices, curry, cinnamon, vanilla and dried fruits." Sounds more like a cake than wine!

If you're put off by age, by the way, there's a younger cousin on sale, a bottle from 1811.

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