Crazy bottle. The grapes were the 1820 vintage. That means James Monroe, one of the USA's Founding Father's was president when these grapes were harvested. Apparently in 1858 John Vanderpool, and affluent New Yorker has health issues and was advised by his doctor to try a different climate. On his travels, he stopped on the island of Madeira where he purchased a quantity of this wine and stored it in glass demijohns. He passed away, survived by his son, Jacob Vanderpoel, who in 1870, had this wine bottles for its 50th anniversary. Somehow, a bottle made it to northeast Ohio where it was purchased. In 2023, a lucky few of us, opened the bottle. There is no information that we could find as to the grape(s) used. The facts listed above come from the Vanderpool Family Annals found on the Internet and the bottle label. The bottle was sealed with cork and a thin lead sleeve. A Durand was used to open and the bottle decanted for sediment and served immediately.
The wine is iced tea/red in color, clear and bright. Great nose of tootsie rolls, oranges, and alcohol. Medium bodied. On the palate, this is dry with oranges, slight milk chocolate. A firm backbone of acidity. Long finish. still very much alive with plenty of energy. It would be impossible to say where this is on its ageing curve, but it seems to be past peak at age 203. ;-) What a treat to have! Scoring seems silly for this, so its getting a 100 just for the experience. If pressed, it is probably 92 or so.
