My friend purchased a bottle from an auction for charity at a country club recently for $200. What are the chances it's still drinkable? I know, "Who know's how long it sat in someone's car in July 15 years ago". I suppose there's a good chance of this. I guess this brings up 'provenance' in general. How do you really know?

Thanks.

Unless there are some visible signs of poor provenance there is no way to know if the provenance was good unless you pop it. If the provenance was good there's a really good chance that it is still a good to excellent bottle of wine.

Drink up.

I had this wine twice, and both times it was served along with the 1962 which was the better wine at the time, but we felt the 1961 still needed more time when last tasted about 15 years ago. If the fill is good, the cork appears and feels fine, the wine is very dark, and there is not excessive sediment, it might be outstanding. I hope you get to taste it and will post notes. I wish I had one left.