Cavan Ward, a reader from Leeds , has sent us a set of photos of some wines that have come into his possession. He would like any information about them.

Ian McLaren :

I suspect that Cavan doesn’t have any hidden gems. Although 1976 was quite a good year in Bordeaux , even the top wines are getting very mature. The first photo shows a wine from the appellation of Côtes de Bordeaux, presumably red. This appellation no longer exists, the designation Première Côtes de Bordeaux being used mainly for sweet white wines. The second photo shows a merchant claret from Julien Dumay, a basic AC Bordeaux.

The third bottle, which only has a neck label, looks an Italian shape. You can see how low the level of wine in the bottle has fallen – the whole of the neck is empty. Whatever wine was in the bottle will have become oxidised by the air that has got in, so the wine is likely to taste like an old sherry or madiera, or like vinegar if the process has gone a long way. The last bottle is a Valpolicella Superiore (i.e. slightly stronger in alcohol than the basic wine. I don’t recognise the maker. Valpolicella is a wine made for early drinking – in the 1970s, the Italian taste of subdued wines would mean that there would have been little fruit taste to start with: there certainly won’t be any now.

Has anyone else any thoughts about these bottles and their possible disposal?