1985 Ruffino Riserva Ducale Oro Chianti Classico - Tenimenti Ruffino gets no respect no more. Really. I maybe should have given up on this producer a while back, but the '85s and '86s were so great that I've kept buying them in quantity up through '97. We'll see. The Speculator has lost faith, clearly. The wine is rarely even mentioned in lavish spreads on Tuscany these days. And you don't see as many ads in those glossy pages any more, either. That doesn't exactly weigh heavily with me.

The '85 is still an earth-mover. It lacks some of the power it had a few years ago, but it fills the gap with finesse. You need to pay attention to it. But if you do, you'll be rewarded. It's got body, it's got ripe cherries and it's got a hint of nostalgia. Betraying my years, I have to say they don't make 'em like this any more. Time to drink up, but it's still got the wow.

1982 Leoville Poyferre St. Julien - I know I can get that accent over the last "e" if I play around, but I'm feeling too lazy right now. I don't have much of this (only one more left) and this bottle wasn't all that exciting. It was perplexing, more than anything else. An absolutely fabulous nose, redolent of berries and vanilla and cocoa and sin, but in the mouth there was something that smacked of cork taint and it numbed the palate. And after sitting around for a few days it did become more approachable, never more corky (which pretty much exonerates the cork) but never great. It should have been great, based on my previous experience with this wine. So I'm going to call this a tainted bottle -- from what, I don't know.

I'm not convinced there's a rush to open the last one, but now I have no idea what to expect. It's somehow unfair for a wine this old and this venerable to be defective. That's why I'm rapidly becoming a screw-top convert. Even though I don't believe the cork was the culprit here, it all too often is. Romance is nice, but it doesn't last. Getting what you paid for is better.