Ok, so weird post title, I'll elaborate. I am in possession of a bottle of my Grandfather's homemade Raspberry wine. My Grandfather, who has been deceased for a few years now, used to brew his own beer and make wine from the wild berries that grew near his home. Back on January 8th of 1995, he bottled up this particular bottle of Raspberry wine that I now own. My Grandfather had sent it off to my parent's one year as part of a gift package, for whatever reason my mom put away the bottle in the garage cabinet where it sat for many years. During that period, my parents had to have their house tented, and fumigated for termites. All of the foodstuffs were removed from the home, all except my Grandfather's bottle of Raspberry wine. Once the fumigation was complete, my mom had realized what happened and was going to throw out the wine. I rescued the bottle, purely for sentimental reasons, not because I thought the wine was very good. I think my folks had tasted a previous batch of wine from my Grandpa, and weren't thrilled with the result.
Now, my question regarding the safety of this wine, as it was hand bottled, a natural cork was used, and my Grandpops neglected to utilize any type of foil covering on the cork. As it sits now, stored in a wine rack, the cork on the bottle has some seepage, discoloration from the wine, it has appeared this way for years. I realize that the wine inside, besides being of unknown quality, most likely turned to vinegar long ago, would the wine be dangerous to even taste at this point? I.E. would the termite fumigation chemicals leach into the wine from the cork? My gut instinct tells me not to risk it, but as I mentioned it's a sentimental thing. I believe that this is the last bottle of my Grandfather's wine in existence. This explains why it has sat unconsumed for seventeen years. It's been sitting there in the wine rack, sort of as a remembrance of my Grandfather, but I'm wondering if I should replace his homemade label with a skull and crossbones stating " Do not Drink, Poison!"
Now, my question regarding the safety of this wine, as it was hand bottled, a natural cork was used, and my Grandpops neglected to utilize any type of foil covering on the cork. As it sits now, stored in a wine rack, the cork on the bottle has some seepage, discoloration from the wine, it has appeared this way for years. I realize that the wine inside, besides being of unknown quality, most likely turned to vinegar long ago, would the wine be dangerous to even taste at this point? I.E. would the termite fumigation chemicals leach into the wine from the cork? My gut instinct tells me not to risk it, but as I mentioned it's a sentimental thing. I believe that this is the last bottle of my Grandfather's wine in existence. This explains why it has sat unconsumed for seventeen years. It's been sitting there in the wine rack, sort of as a remembrance of my Grandfather, but I'm wondering if I should replace his homemade label with a skull and crossbones stating " Do not Drink, Poison!"
