Misconceptions about Aging Wines

Misconceptions about Aging

It is a misconception that you must age wine. Most people assume that the longer that you keep a wine, the better it will get. The fact is, throughout the world, most wine is drunk "young" (that is relatively soon after it is produced, perhaps 12 to 18 months), even wines that are "better" if aged. While some wines will "mature" and become better over time, others will not and should be drunk immediately, or within a few years. Eventually all wine will "go over the hill," so even the wines meant to be kept for many, many years should be drunk before its too late.

Choosing a Wine for Aging

A famous name on the label is no guarantee whether a wine will age well, sometimes the grapes that year just won't produce wines suitable for cellaring.

Remember that red wines get their color from the stems and skins of the grape, this gives the wine tannin and therefore aging capacity. White wines may have no contact with the stems and skins and will have little tannin (though some can be added, again, through barrel aging). This means most white wines don't age well, even the ones which do get better through time will not last nearly as long as their red cousins. A fair average for many "ageable" whites would be about 5 to 7 years (some might go 10). On the other hand, really "ageable" reds can easily be kept for 30 years and longer. How you store the wine will affect how long it lasts as well. Even the size of the bottle will change its life.

Getting good advice about an individual wine is the only good idea here.

Storing a Wine

It is best to store wine under certain conditions, like in a cool damp underground cellar, this is known as "cellaring" wine. Wines, which are expected to be matured in the bottle before drinking, can go "over the hill" faster if not properly stored. If someone is giving you a very good deal on an old red wine, that you would otherwise expect to be great, start to wonder how it was kept!

For more about storing wine click here

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Serving a Wine | How to taste a Wine | Tasting Types | Describing a Wine | Wine with Food | Storing a Wine | Aging Wine |
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