After a taste of Beethoven, Chopin, and the Chevalier 1963 blanc, he served two of his old reds side by side. It was up to the guests to divine the vintages. One bottle had aged as one would wish oneself to age. It still had spirit and vigor. All its faculties were intact. The other wine belonged in a rest home, if not the morgue. Everyone came up with their guesses, and quite logically attributed to the healthy old bottle a great birth year like 1928 or 1929. Everyone guessed a different “off” year for the senile wine. Ricard then astonished his guests by revealing that both bottles were
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