Kedushat Shevi'it Wine after the bi'ur time
Question
Two-and-a-half years ago I received a gift of a bottle of wine from someone who is not scrupulously observant. The wine is Hermon wine from the Golan Heights and is marked otzar beit din 5775. I received the bottle several months after the bi'ur time. I know that this person is not a wine lover, and often passes on to others the wine he receives as a gift. I am concerned that he received the bottle as mishlo'ach manot on Purim and passed it onto me without performing the actions necessary at bi'ur time. I kept the wine until today since I was not sure what to do with it. I'm asking: is it permissible for me to drink the wine even though it might have passed bi'ur? If not, what should I do with the bottle? Thank you.
Answer
Since there are two doubts involved, as you wrote: (1) you are not sure if your friend performed bi'ur, or (2) if the wine was in the possession of the otzar beit din during Pesach 5776 (bi'ur time during the eighth year), in which case it would not be subject to bi'ur. Since this is the case, it is possible to depend on the opinion of Yechiel Michel Tucazinsky in Sefer Hashemitah, who writes that if one does not know, or was unable to perform bi'ur at the proper time due to circumstances outside of his control, it is possible to perform bi'ur before using it even now. For this reason, it is best that you declare the wine ownerless before three people, and afterwards you can take ownership of it again and drink it while handling it with kedushat shevi'it (don't waste or pour it out).