An old bottle is two things at once: a wine and a document. The wine has had time to become what its year and its place allowed; the bottle carries the marks of where it has been. The older the wine, the more the state of the bottle matters, and the more it deserves to be looked at before it is opened.

The page holds the vintages of fifteen years and more. It moves with the years, so wines join from the mature wines each year. Bordeaux and Burgundy are the wines that most often reach this age, with vintage Champagne, Sauternes, vintage Port and the Rhône; Chenin from the Loire and Savagnin from the Jura also keep for decades.

Old wine asks a little care: let the sediment settle and expect a fragile cork. What comes out is not a bigger version of the young wine but a different one, quieter and longer.

The wines above are the current selection. See also the large formats, which age more slowly, or the great vintages.