Was it red or white?

A lively supper with a group of visiting German winemakers last week became even more entertaining when friend Mike Ellman drew a mystery wine out from under the table. Ellman wouldn't tell us much about the bottle he had concealed under brown paper except that it was about as old as some present. Each of us got an inch or so to consider with a view to guessing provenance and vintage. The conversation veered pretty quickly toward the question of whether the vaguely reddish, caramel-colored beverage had originally been a white or a red. The mystery was compounded by the presence of some residual sugar.

The sweetness and color reminded me a bit of the oldest wine I ever tasted - a 1901 vintage port. There seemed to be a whiff of botrytis, too, which sent the conversation off in other directions. In the end, no one seemed confident enough to venture a guess.

The table was pretty astonished to find that our mystery sip was indeed a white wine: a chenin blanc from the 1949 vintage at Moulin Touchais. Although the cork crumbled to bits, the wine itself was remarkably intact with delicious dark honey and apricot flavors and an enchanting bouquet.

Would we hold up as well?