MORE than 2,500 bottles of vintage plonk have been discovered following the death of an elderly Suffolk bachelor.

But because the wine merchants called in to catalogue the deceased man’s collection cannot guarantee whether any of the bottles are drinkable, they are selling them off at �1.50 a throw.

The cases – mainly estate-bottled white wines from Germany – was discovered in a large house in Bury St Edmunds following the owner’s death.

But experts called to see the 200 cases warned that some of it may be well past its sell-by date and every bottle is a gamble. Nicholas Corke, of Thomas Peatlings Fine Wines, in Westgate Street, Bury, said: ”It was an amazing find and it took us more than 40 hours to sort it all out and catalogue it.

“Sadly we cannot guarantee that all the wines are still drinkable – most were bottled in the 1970s and 1980s.

“We have tried some and it has been OK – but it was not the sort of wine that was meant to be laid down and kept.

“Some people have tried it and their bottles have been in good condition – so much so that they have come back for more.

“The gentleman who originally bought the wine was obviously a keen fan of German whites and we found some very good examples among the cases that were scattered throughout the house. There didn’t appear to be any form of central heating in the property so it has kept much better than it would have done otherwise.

“We have put bottles out which we think should be drinkable and the ones we have tried have been okay.

“We also found a few bottles of claret from the early 1980s which have lasted well and can now fetch between �80 and �100 a bottle and some vintage 1963 port too.

“And there were also a couple of half-bottles of champagne – which are unusual – which were actually snapped up last week by a French couple over here for the twinning [event in Bury St Edmunds].”