Wine

Probably not. It would most likely have evaporated, but even if you posit that it hasn't, it's likely to taste awful. One century you could get away with, maybe, if you have a wine that is a good keeper. (Some wines need to be drunk young.) But multiple centuries - unlikely.

Absolutely. If you are lucky enough to own a bottle of Hermitage Grange you can have it opened and tested every now and then. It is resealed (all this by the manufacturers). If it's OK, celebrate. If not, you're hundreds of dollars down the drain (where you pour the off wine).

I don't drink but I've some good wines. The reds will peak in about ten years time then go downhill. I remember my father sampling some 100yo champagne and it was vinegar. (I believe the vin in vinegar shows it is a derivation of wine, from the French)

Some wines (Tokay for example) just keep getting better with age, many more peak at some point and decline afterwards. Really old bottles of cheap wine are disgusting and fit only for cleaning the drains.

And it should be stored properly. That is on its side, well corked, and in a stable, cool temperature. I once read a horror story about an old wine that had belonged to thomas jefferson (who spent a huge amount of money on wine, basically bankrupting himself) Anyway, someone thought it would be cool to take this unopened bottle of wine owned by jefferson and put it in a museum. So they stood it up on its bottom, and put it under a spotlight. After a while, the cork dried up and fell into the bottle.

It could go either way, even if stored properly (which prevents the cork from drying), it could still get mouldy or turn to vinegar.

PS watch "The Year of the Comet" for more information -- and to laugh at the scottish guy.

There was an episode of Columbo where he caught out the murderer, who was a wine expert, by serving him a bottle of wine that had gone slightly off. The chap realised that all the other bottles in his cellar would also be off, because of a temperature change related to the disposal of the body, I think, and was arrested when he started throwing the wine out.

Thomas_Anderson said:

Does wine ever go bad? I've heard wine gets better with age, but does this work for very long stretches of time? Would a centuries old wine be edible?

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yes. wine goes bad even when stored properly.

I took a "Wine for Dummies" class at a winery near me. IIRC white wines should be consumed within 2 years and red wines within 5 years as they soon go bad after that time. So essentially, they do go bad, some sooner than others.

Also, some wines are perfectly fine as stand alone drinks but some wines are best paired with food. Otherwise they seem a bit strong. If I go to the winery event this weekend, I'll try and remember to ask.

I'm not a wine expert either but I do drink a fair amount and subscribe to Wine Spec... Most wines are made to drink within 1-2 years after bottling but the high dollar French (esp Bordeaux) and Italian wines age well (but from what I've read - over 20 yrs is really pushing it).