| Shane's Wine Opinions |
| To Age or Not To Age |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
To Age or Not To Age? – Yes, that is the question that has been front and
center on my mind these days. I think that most of the wines I buy for my
cellar could use at least two to three additional years of age before drinking.
Up until now, if Monsieur Parker said it could last twenty years I figured, hey,
he would know better than me, so I take him at his word. By the way, just an
observation, but he seems to be more liberal with his drink through dates than
the guys at the Wine Spectator and other publications like the Wine Enthusiast
(who avoid that little bold prediction like it was the Bubonic Plague).
Based on the expert’s recommendations, I have set up my wine cellar
spreadsheet with proposed drink dates that I think will be best for the wines.
The truth is that it’s really probably a crap shoot and ‘how lucky do you feel’
process. For the most part, I have been fairly confident in my drink date
predictions, but lately, I have had some conflicting experiences that have me a
little troubled with the ‘when to drink’ phenomenon.
Recently, my buddy Ted invited me and some other wine connoisseurs over for
a “Raid Ted’s Cellar Tasting” that featured California Zinfandels from the
2000 to 2002 vintage dates. Now I know what you saying right now….Shane….
Zinfandel is not supposed to age like say a Cabernet Sauvignon does. I know
that too, but these were all high-end Zins from really great producers and
besides, I have had some old Zins that really blossomed in old age. In my
humble opinion though, all but one Zin had been taken to the Senior Prom and
already seen its glory days flash by like a fading distant memory. Sorry Ted!
Even the one that hadn’t put in for early retirement was hanging on by a very
thin thread. I think the consensus at the end of the evening was that when it
comes to Zinfandel, drink’em young.
Then to exasperate this dilemma even further, I had a wild hair up my…..well
something….and I pulled out a 2000 Penfold’s RWT Shiraz. A wine with a
track record for lasting decades. My wife liked it, but I knew it was shot! Now,
I will admit, it had sat in the store I bought it from a long time….in fact I had
purchased the 2001, 2002 & 2003 RWT’s all before buying it. This was the
main reason why I felt a little pressed to go ahead and drink it. But alas, I
would have thought it would still be okay after just nine years.
I was really starting to question my whole cellar aging strategy. This was quite
alarming to me. Am I going to end up with a lot of over-the-hill wines? What
an enormous waste to my investment. I was even beginning to question my
personal tastes. Maybe I just don’t prefer my wines with bottle age on them.
Enter fellow wine enthusiasts, Jim, Sandy and Joey. On a number of occasions,
Jim has been kind enough to open some of his 1991 Rubisow Cabernets – a
winery located in Napa. I swear to you they still look vibrant and young and
seem like they could go on forever. Joey recently shared a 1991 Beringer
Private Reserve Cab that was all that and a bag of chips. Maybe it is just that
vintage, the 1991, that allowed wines to age so well. I’ve noticed that 1999
seems to be another vintage with aggressive tannins built for long-term aging.
Well maybe all is right with the world after all or at least my wine cellar
anyway.
I think when you are faced with the dilemma of aging wine longer or drinking it
now there are some things you should take into consideration. One, do you like
to drink wines that are still young and tannic, but full of big rich fruit? Tannins
fade over time, but so does those fresh fruit flavors. They are replaced with
more exotic tones in great wines, but they may or may not be to your liking.
You can solve a lot of the problems brought on by harsh tannins by simply
decanting the wine for an hour or two. In fact, I recommend decanting most
wines that you drink; I just think they taste better with a little oxygen.
Two, is this a varietal that should be aged? I don’t care what anyone says, I
think Sauvignon Blanc wines suck after 3 years from the vintage date. Some
red wines like Beaujolais would be rancid crap after a year or two. Syrah and
Cabernet, well these two varietals produce plenty of tannins and acidity to
balance them for the long haul and therefore make good choices for aging. I
find the magic spot for California Cabs and Syrah’s from better producers is
between five to ten years of age.
Three, what is the wine’s track record for aging? Is this a wine that has
routinely been aged by the people that buy it or the critics that write about it?
Like First Growth Bordeaux or fine Burgundy. These wines just really need
time in the bottle to come into their own. Never be afraid to ask the winery. I
mean, honestly, who would know better than them how long their wines tend to
last?
And lastly, do you have the proper storage conditions? If you do not, you
cannot realistically expect a wine to hang on for a long time. Wine requires
constant temperature and absence from light and vibrations. Preferably
temperature around 55 degrees. Just remember, the warmer the temperature
of the wine’s environment, the more accelerated the wine’s aging process
becomes. The same is true for wines kept in colder temperatures. I’ve tried
storing white wines in the refrigerator and that did not work out too well.
In short, to age or not to age is a matter of personal opinion. No matter how
much experimentation I do with the aging process, I will never ever really know
exactly how long a wine will last and when it is best to consume it. That is why
they recommend you buy three to six bottles of each and drink them
periodically over time. Then you may have a better idea of when to consume
them, but even that is not fool proof. I may never have all the answers to the
“aging and when to drink” process, but I sure am going to enjoy the research!
center on my mind these days. I think that most of the wines I buy for my
cellar could use at least two to three additional years of age before drinking.
Up until now, if Monsieur Parker said it could last twenty years I figured, hey,
he would know better than me, so I take him at his word. By the way, just an
observation, but he seems to be more liberal with his drink through dates than
the guys at the Wine Spectator and other publications like the Wine Enthusiast
(who avoid that little bold prediction like it was the Bubonic Plague).
Based on the expert’s recommendations, I have set up my wine cellar
spreadsheet with proposed drink dates that I think will be best for the wines.
The truth is that it’s really probably a crap shoot and ‘how lucky do you feel’
process. For the most part, I have been fairly confident in my drink date
predictions, but lately, I have had some conflicting experiences that have me a
little troubled with the ‘when to drink’ phenomenon.
Recently, my buddy Ted invited me and some other wine connoisseurs over for
a “Raid Ted’s Cellar Tasting” that featured California Zinfandels from the
2000 to 2002 vintage dates. Now I know what you saying right now….Shane….
Zinfandel is not supposed to age like say a Cabernet Sauvignon does. I know
that too, but these were all high-end Zins from really great producers and
besides, I have had some old Zins that really blossomed in old age. In my
humble opinion though, all but one Zin had been taken to the Senior Prom and
already seen its glory days flash by like a fading distant memory. Sorry Ted!
Even the one that hadn’t put in for early retirement was hanging on by a very
thin thread. I think the consensus at the end of the evening was that when it
comes to Zinfandel, drink’em young.
Then to exasperate this dilemma even further, I had a wild hair up my…..well
something….and I pulled out a 2000 Penfold’s RWT Shiraz. A wine with a
track record for lasting decades. My wife liked it, but I knew it was shot! Now,
I will admit, it had sat in the store I bought it from a long time….in fact I had
purchased the 2001, 2002 & 2003 RWT’s all before buying it. This was the
main reason why I felt a little pressed to go ahead and drink it. But alas, I
would have thought it would still be okay after just nine years.
I was really starting to question my whole cellar aging strategy. This was quite
alarming to me. Am I going to end up with a lot of over-the-hill wines? What
an enormous waste to my investment. I was even beginning to question my
personal tastes. Maybe I just don’t prefer my wines with bottle age on them.
Enter fellow wine enthusiasts, Jim, Sandy and Joey. On a number of occasions,
Jim has been kind enough to open some of his 1991 Rubisow Cabernets – a
winery located in Napa. I swear to you they still look vibrant and young and
seem like they could go on forever. Joey recently shared a 1991 Beringer
Private Reserve Cab that was all that and a bag of chips. Maybe it is just that
vintage, the 1991, that allowed wines to age so well. I’ve noticed that 1999
seems to be another vintage with aggressive tannins built for long-term aging.
Well maybe all is right with the world after all or at least my wine cellar
anyway.
I think when you are faced with the dilemma of aging wine longer or drinking it
now there are some things you should take into consideration. One, do you like
to drink wines that are still young and tannic, but full of big rich fruit? Tannins
fade over time, but so does those fresh fruit flavors. They are replaced with
more exotic tones in great wines, but they may or may not be to your liking.
You can solve a lot of the problems brought on by harsh tannins by simply
decanting the wine for an hour or two. In fact, I recommend decanting most
wines that you drink; I just think they taste better with a little oxygen.
Two, is this a varietal that should be aged? I don’t care what anyone says, I
think Sauvignon Blanc wines suck after 3 years from the vintage date. Some
red wines like Beaujolais would be rancid crap after a year or two. Syrah and
Cabernet, well these two varietals produce plenty of tannins and acidity to
balance them for the long haul and therefore make good choices for aging. I
find the magic spot for California Cabs and Syrah’s from better producers is
between five to ten years of age.
Three, what is the wine’s track record for aging? Is this a wine that has
routinely been aged by the people that buy it or the critics that write about it?
Like First Growth Bordeaux or fine Burgundy. These wines just really need
time in the bottle to come into their own. Never be afraid to ask the winery. I
mean, honestly, who would know better than them how long their wines tend to
last?
And lastly, do you have the proper storage conditions? If you do not, you
cannot realistically expect a wine to hang on for a long time. Wine requires
constant temperature and absence from light and vibrations. Preferably
temperature around 55 degrees. Just remember, the warmer the temperature
of the wine’s environment, the more accelerated the wine’s aging process
becomes. The same is true for wines kept in colder temperatures. I’ve tried
storing white wines in the refrigerator and that did not work out too well.
In short, to age or not to age is a matter of personal opinion. No matter how
much experimentation I do with the aging process, I will never ever really know
exactly how long a wine will last and when it is best to consume it. That is why
they recommend you buy three to six bottles of each and drink them
periodically over time. Then you may have a better idea of when to consume
them, but even that is not fool proof. I may never have all the answers to the
“aging and when to drink” process, but I sure am going to enjoy the research!