When thinking of wine in its youthful stages two questions come to mind. First is this wine intended for enjoyment in its early years? Or, am I looking for the necessary components, balance and structure indicting its ability to mature with grace and offer a more multifaceted personality as it evolves over time?
Not all wines are meant to age. And that's a good thing as those destined for early pleasure (e.g. many bright whites, rosés and lighter reds) offer vivid fruit aromas and flavors to enhance celebrations and offer diversity to our mealtime pleasures. However, they rarely develop additional nuances if left in the cellar to age. These wines are not necessarily simple in nature, but rather provide an "effortless" treat. Much like a fun novel or film as opposed to a complex story-line necessitating our undivided attention, concentration and focus.
Enjoying an aged wine is often seen as an acquired taste given the characteristics of age are somewhat contrary to what many look for when simply enjoying a glass with dinner. The welcoming fresh primary fruit of youth becomes deeper and more complex in character as it morphs into secondary aromatics and flavors of dried flower petals, leather, tobacco and earth. Tannins and acidity integrate and the color deepens with shades of brown in reds and deeper golden to light amber hues in whites.
Wines meant to improve with bottle-age (e.g. Bordeaux, Burgundy, Barolo, Cabernet Sauvignon and even some Chardonnays ,white Bordeaux-stye blends and many Rieslings etc.) are often sampled young by the trade and wine press before release, and shortly thereafter, to evaluate their potential to develop with time in the bottle. When participating in these tastings I look first for balance, or "harmony" as the late Steven Spurrier – Decanter Magazine Consultant Editor, wine educator and renowned critic – once described it.
While what defines “old” or “mature” is a subjective viewpoint, there are certain attributes and characteristics they hold in common. When in balance, all the individual characteristics of fruit, acidity, tannin (primarily for reds), oak and alcohol represent a finely tuned seamless sonata where none overshadows the other.
When a wine meant for the long haul is in balance in its youth, it should remain so as it gracefully ages. However, a wine that is unbalanced when young is unlikely to develop this intrinsic character over time, and less likely to become a good candidate for long-term growth.
In the late 1970s, the wine world experienced the advent of the 100-point scale that was ”supposedly” intended to gauge a wine’s overall quality (and age ability as a “necessary” component) measured by a specific point score. Before too long, the emergence of a stylistic change took place in the market as more opulent wines were in the wheelhouse of most critics. In order to garner a high point score (90+ points in those days and more like 95+ over the last 20 years or so), wineries began harvesting later, thus allowing higher sugars and more dominant fruit-forward accents to develop.
These super-ripe grapes yielded wines displaying intense fruit, higher alcohol, lower acidity and softer tannins to dazzle the 100-point critics. However, those are not the qualities needed for enhanced aging. Critics also adopted new terminology such as “opulent, luscious fruit and hedonistic” to describe these wines in their notes. This trend was opposed to the admittedly more Old World classical expressions of “elegance, statuesque and graceful” often accompanying wines of the pre-100-point era.
The late and revered international wine legend Peter Sichel once said: "Wine is an intermediate phase between sweet grape juice and vinegar." While this may sound a bit bizarre at first, it speaks to the fact that wine (unlike spirits) is a living thing and subject to the confluence of peaks and valleys similar to those we experience in our own lives.
Flowers, foods and other living things age in a rather linear fashion. The flower buds, blooms, wilts, dies and then drops to the ground. The fresh bread you just bought will become stale in time and other foods will just spoil if not eaten quickly. The road from origin to demise is a straight line and very unlike our own life’s rhythmic journey or that of an age-worthy wine in the bottle.
In addition to acknowledging that not all wines are intended for long-term aging, we must consider storage conditions. Like us, even wines intended for the long-haul and maximum aging potential will die before reaching maturity without proper care. Suitable cellar temperature (ideal 55 to 60 degrees) is a well known constant. Wines age slower when storage temperatures drop, however, when too low the aging process is halted or if too high the process is negatively accelerated.
Proper temperature is a given, but we cannot ignore the need for suitable humidity (60% to 70% is optimal), absence of vibration from coolers or other sources and lack of direct lighting are also essential. When stored properly, wines meant to age will do so and the rewards can be well appreciated. While those not stored properly are destined to disappoint.
In our lives, we experience the younger years of toddlers to adolescents, teenagers to young adults and on to mid-life adulthood and old age. Wine, as a living thing, travels much the same route when structure and balance accompany it throughout it’s life.
I just enjoyed a 2012 Antica (now Antinori Napa Valley) Chardonnay that is showing the vibrancy of its teenage energy while still holding on to a bright fruit expression of youth in the background.
On the other hand, the 1995 Peter Michael Chardonnay Mon Plaisir (yes, a 30-year old California Chardonnay) I relished a few months ago was squarely into the latter stages of its mid-life, with still time to go before reaching old age, or ultimately vinegar as Sichel adroitly pointed out in his view on a wine’s lifespan.
Over the last year or so I’ve also been able to pull some true “oldies” that had been in the cellar for decades to complement certain events and occasions. Although I was obviously unable to taste these wines in their youth, I can only imagine that the structure and balance from earlier years enabled them to gain complexity and interest into adulthood through their many years in the bottle.
A 1944 Château d’Yquem was silky in the mouth exhibiting honey, richness and elegance from the nose to finish with traces of youthful acidity balancing the sweetness of Sauternes. The 1948 Taylor’s Vintage Port was my answer to why we age wines in search of something a younger one cannot offer. A 1949 Château Latour showed everything you would expect from a First Growth Bordeaux in its elder years and from a superlative vintage. And a 1958 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tache sang of earthy notes, dried violets and oven-baked cherries; but lacked the explosive nose I experienced with this wine 20+ years ago.
This is not to say enjoyment cannot be found in younger wines. But, only that the experience derived from older wines, made in a style meant to age and correctly stored, can be truly spectacular. They tend to remind us what the world was like as the grapes were picked and the wine was fermenting. Also, when reminiscing about older properly aged wines with others, the conversation usually turns to the occasion and who we were with at the time savoring that wine.
Wine has been considered a part of our lives and an integral part of mealtime enjoyment, celebrations and many religious traditions for more than 8,000 years. Yet the idea of aging a wine for future development is relatively new. The concept and practice of aging only became possible in the 17th Century when coal-fueled furnaces came into being and glass bottles could be produced with greater continuity for storage.
Prior to that time, young wine was kept as “bulk” in large clay vessels, wooden casks or any other convenient storage container. It was then drawn-off into smaller containers for immediate consumption. Even after the advent of the bottle, and through today, the vast majority of wines are made for current consumption with relatively few intended for mid- or long-term cellaring.
It is estimated that in the US about 90% of all wine is consumed within twenty-four hours of purchase and the vast majority of the rest is drunk within a year. The same is also seen in Europe with the exception of England where older wines (some say too old) are the fashion.
So, when thinking about wine we should be aware of its youthful allure and leave many of the serious aging questions to the few diehards who seek out the nuanced character of a properly aged wines. Quite often it's the exuberance of a young wine that just hits the spot and leaves us asking for more. While on other occasions nothing can beat the thrill of a classic “oldie.”