By JULIE MIDDLETON
Mission Bay software salesman Simon Kingston brought along his bottle of 1973 Penfolds Grange, won in a bet with his boss late last year.
Albany manager Ken Muir brought in a bottle of the 1964 vintage, his wife's birth year.
Well-known wine buff John Hawkesby arrived in an avuncular
mood with 39 bottles from his collection, every vintage from 1960 (that's $1690 please) to 1989.
They were among 60 people who turned up with 300 bottles of Penfolds' iconic red for a free wine health clinic run by the South Australian vintner at an Auckland hotel.
It was news to most that their prized bottles could be opened, tested, topped up with a more recent vintage and recorked.
Damaging oxygen was expunged from the bottle neck with nitrogen, machines jammed the cork back in and sealed on another capsule and the bottle was back in mint condition - possibly.
Those that passed the test were "certified" and logged by Penfolds' winemakers, which can boost value.
Mr Kingston and Mr Muir's bottles turned out to be fine.
But oh, the agony. An unopened bottle is an unknown quantity, its promise great - a 1951 bottle sold for $58,700 two years ago, and even the current, 1998, vintage will cost you $400 at Foodtown.
Remove the cork and the truth can fly out like a malevolent genie, bearing the acrid smell of vinegar.
The nervous owners watched poker-faced as white-aproned winemakers went to work with knives and double corkscrews. Chief winemaker Peter Gago sniffed, sipped, swilled and spilled.
Shoulders sagged with relief when the chirpy Mr Gago pronounced the patient in good health and certifiable.
Others whose offerings were, in Gago-speak, "more than vinegar ... and more than balsamic vinegar", resigned themselves to owning a pricey marinade with a history.
Waiting for his bottles to be popped, Mr Hawkesby described the anxiety as "a bit like being at the birth of your first child.
"I'm nervous, actually. My personal feeling is that some will have to be put down."
He was right. Three had to be drunk ASAP or tipped out.
He had a sip of the healthy ones before they were recorked. He didn't spit, he swallowed, and was looking even more avuncular when he wandered off in search of lunch.
