A rerThe story begins in 2011. Joel is a man fascinated by rare things. He is the one who told me 13 years ago: I bought a bottle from 1690, I will drink it and I will tell you how it tastes.

I immediately told him that he should not drink it without me. I came to his house and we drank a wine made in the time of Louis XIV, bland but drinkable whose emotion was more from his age than from his taste qualities. What a memory!

Joel recently told me that he had acquired a bottle found in the sea. The shape of the bottle is from the 18th century. These bottles are known to be broken. The colour that appears with a light that shines from behind is unique, of an almost pink red and the wine seems pure.

As he said 13 years ago: I will drink this wine with my father and I will tell you. He must have known how I would react. I told him that I would be very happy to drink this wine with him.

He agreed that I should come and drink his 18th century bottle found in the sea and I told him that I would bring something great.

Joël had seen on my blog that I want to make a dinner with 14 bottles over 160 years old. He said to me: I would be happy if you brought your 1730 Cahors. It is one of the rarest bottles for the dinner that I wish to make. Normally I would say no, but Joël is so generous that I said yes.

I added an unknown bottle from 1841 with a very beautiful color like that of an alcohol and an impossible to read label. What I read on the label is « Ht Mmmmm ». Only the 1841 is legible.

Knowing that we will share an 18th century Port, I ask Jean-Bernard Métais if he would like to join us. He makes wine in the Sarthe of the appellation Jasnières. He has a cellar with very old bottles and is a friend. He agrees to join our group. He will come with his wife and offers to bring a 1870 Jasnières and an 18th century Chenin Blanc.

We meet at the Rennes train station and go to Joël’s place. He will be with his parents and friends. He adds to his bottle rescued from the seas a Jerez of 1850, a Cheval Blanc 1947 and a supposed Burgundy of a year close to 1850.

In the small room where we deposit our contributions, one can imagine the anxiety that we have when opening these historical bottles.

The Jerez 1850 has a nice sweet smell. The two wines of Jean-Bernard, 1870 and 18th century have perfect smells. My Cahors 1730 for which I have no expectations, if I refer to the wine tasting of the 1690, surprises us because it is elegant and could be drinkable.

The supposed 18th century Porto has a sweet and elegant smell, that’s good news. The 1947 Cheval Blanc promises a lot, according to my memory. The supposed Burgundy of about 1850 smells of alcohol and one can think of a Fine or a Marc. My 1841 also has a perfume of alcohol and most likely an Armagnac.

The cork of Porto from the seas is small and very light cork. I used a Durand corkscrew to prevent the cap from falling into the liquid.

At no time we felt that one of the wines would be undrinkable. The olfactory impression does not offer any certainty, but we have high hopes.

We join the living room dining where are already the people from Rennes who accompany Joël in this great experience. Jean-Bernard, who is a winemaker, would like us not to eat during the tasting, in order to try to identify each wine without suffering the deviation that the dishes would provide.

During this tasting, I did not take notes. Only my feelings remain during this important moment.

The Jasnières Métais 1870 is delicious, sweet, delicate and full of pleasure. It is so beautiful and long. This wine has no age. Its colour is almost pink. If we were to say it’s a 1990, we would not be mistaken. This is the privilege of eternal wines.

The 18th century Chenin Blanc Métais is incredible because it is exactly the same as the 1870. It has the same DNA. He also has no age. It is pure sweetness. It has a little less energy than the 1870 but I prefer to drink such a wine so well preserved. I knew that the chenin is extremely long-lived, but this prephylloxeric is moving by its preserved freshness.

We now move on to my favourite, which I had jealously guarded and which Joël convinced me to open. The Cahors 1730 is an incredible surprise. First, it has color. These old wines could be depigmented, but this one is not. And the most incredible thing is that it’s drinkable and has a real taste. I could make dinner with this wine and it wouldn’t be rejected. I didn’t expect anything but now I’m in heaven. Drinking a wine made when Louis XV was our king, it’s a miracle. You can’t imagine how happy I am.

I drank eight times the Château Cheval Blanc 1947, a legend among legends. Joël’s 1947 Cheval Blanc is part of the first quarter in the order I would make tastings of 1947 Cheval Blanc. He is great, rich and conquering. For him, I propose that we break the rule suggested by Jean-Bernard: it’s time to snack and Joël has prepared with his family beautiful canapes, truffle, salmon, and other delicacies.

We want to drink the supposed Burgundy of 1850 and we think it is a Marc, very strong, very intense. It is hard to drink with such power, but what a great Marc! I wrote this after returning home, but Joël had the curiosity a few days later to decipher a paper that was attached to this bottle. And it reads: Mirabelle de l’Est Chapugneau 1830 put in barrels in 1874. We were certainly more concerned with tasting wines than recognizing spirits. This mirabelle is of unexpected strength.

It is now time to taste the 18th century port found in the sea. The smell is impossible to recognize. So complex. And in the mouth, it is also impossible to find a track. And then suddenly, we find the solution. Jean Bernard makes wines that live in chalk. And he thinks of an oyster and that is the starting point of the explanation: the cap allowed a little sea water to mix with the wine which gives the taste of salt and oyster, but the wine is extremely elegant because the contact with sea water did not create abuse. It is an alien Porto full of charm. A great pleasure draped in strangeness.

Joël is so happy that his wine is as moving as he decides to open a Château Petrus 1945. I feel Joel so happy to do this generous folly. 1945 is in an old hand-blown bottle. Extremely powerful, it is large, but carries less emotion than the 1947 Cheval Blanc. Joel will later see that the cork bears the mention of Petrus, but is a merchant’s cork.

We then drink the Jerez 1850 which is nice, but a little limited because it does not have the dry tension of a great Sherry.

The alcohol that I assume is an Armagnac 1841 is fantastic with an impressive fruit, but so strong that we do not insist.

Joël decides to open a delicious Château d’Yquem 1989 which is perfect for the Kouign Amann. What an emotion that this journey in time with three wines of the 18th century so different!

It takes me time to conclude and synthesize this unique experience.

I was so surprised that my Cahors 1730 is so great that because of this strong emotion, I put it first, as if it were my child.

Then the 18th century Chenin Métais had such a sweet and delicate taste that I put it second, but in second emotion and probably first for the taste, more pleasant than that of Cahors.

Next comes the 1947 Cheval Blanc because today this legendary wine is great.

Then there is the surprise of this unique 18th century Port. Great bottle, great wine, and the presence of salty sea that does not play against emotion.

After these unique wines, I will say that the Jasnières 1870 is highly emotional, that the Pétrus 1945 represents the exceptional generosity of Joël, that the Armagnac 1841 is perfect and will illuminate many other of my dinners as it is frank and cheerful. The supposed Marc de Bourgogne around 1850 which is in fact a mirabelle from 1830 will illuminate Joël’s meals and the Yquem 1989 is a wine of pure joy and return to earth after so many dreams.

In brief: 1 – Cahors 1730, 2 – Chenin Métais 18th century, 3 – Cheval Blanc 1947, 4 – Porto 18th century, 5 – Jasnières 1870, 6 – Armagnac 1841.

What a day!!!!!