Rahsaan wrote:James Roscoe wrote:the merits of aging and how long to age.
Not sure what you're asking. Seems kind of general. It really depends on the specific vintage/cuvee/bottling. And of course on personal preferences.
Which is kind of the answer!
Let's walk through an imaginary life-cycle of a wine (those ITB or homewinemakers will be able to slot in pre-bottling thoughts which would make a great thread in their own right). Some of these comments might be disputed - we do have different experiences and perceptions:
Just bottled The wine has vibrant fruit, strong tannins & acidity, but is all a bit 'arms and legs' at the moment. The term 'bottle shock' broadly covers this. Those who make wine can give thoughts on how long this awkward phase lasts for, but I presume it varies by wine style. In some wine styles there might even be some low level CO2 remaining dissolved in the wine, giving it a light spritz (I saw this nicely illustrated in a bottle of Dr L riesling, where a quick but vigoourous shake of the opened, but re-sealed bottle made a noticeable difference).
I'll leave travel shock out, but personally find more logic to justify it in older bottles - with shaken sediment.
Just released Hopefully if the winery has let the wine settle down to overcome bottle shock, it should reach the first moment where someone might argue it hits peak. Let's say our wine has good ripe (not overripe) fruit, grippy tannins and thirst-quenching acidity. Some folks enjoy this vibrant hit, with high intensity and even the vice-like mouth-drying tannins. With the right food, this could be an ace match. However for other people & in other settings, the wine is too challenging, yet also lacking in subtlety and complexity. It's a face-full of fruit/tannins/acidity and after the initial impressive hit, might start to become tiresome. So they wait and cellar it
A few years later Not a lot might have changed. The tannins might have softened a bit, the fruit settled down a touch, maybe even a slight softening of the acidity. It's not vastly different to when released, for some a slight improvement, for others it still has little complexity or charm. They cellar longer.
closed period A slightly contentious concept, but some wine styles seem very susceptible to this (e.g. Burgundy, Barolo), but it's not something that we can be assertive about. What might happen, say 5-6 years into our notional wine's cellaring, is that the initial fruit vibrancy has dropped significantly, yet tannins and acidity remain strong and even feel stronger than before, as the balance has changed. The wine might feel like a shell. We might be a bit worried. In some instances this worry is well-founded, the tannins were too strong for the sadly short-term fruit and matching it to food can be a pain. However in other instances, there is hope, that in time as the tannins recede and the acidity softens, there will be something of interest there to emerge from the shadows. So we cellar on in hope.
Tertiary interest Primary = initial grape related flavours; Secondary = vinification influences including specific wine-making input; Tertiary= development of Primary/Secondary flavours to adopt a new flavour profile. Definition out of the way, that initial vibrant fruit, whilst softening has also (in part) transformed into a different flavour profile, other non-grapey flavours have emerged, some of them desirable, others less so, and these vary between different people's palates. Brett is a poor, but useful example. Arguably it's a secondary aroma, arguably a fault, but in small quantities it's initially perhaps difficult to detect, or offers just a touch of extra complexity. In time, it may grow (and grow) and create quite a stink when the bottle is opened. Our tolerence levels differ (I'm generally ok with it except for stink-bombs), others despair at the slightest whiff. What I like about this period, is that there's often a lot going on, at least in the good bottles. The wine warrants closer attention as some aromas may be fleeting and the wine can change significantly in the glass.
Old age This is perhaps more indicative of the trade-off. The initial fruit profile is fading into the background now and even the tertiary elements may be disappearing (though it's feasible that more have appeared since we last tasted it). Oxidative influence e.g. sherry-like may have emerged, some pleasant volatile acidity might now be getting too dominant, the wine may start to lose balance, with individual facets sticking out. The wine can change rapidly in the glass and move from divine complexity, to tired wreck in minutes. The wine might still be interesting and even enjoyable, yet for many they miss the charm it had a year or two ago. They've lost more than they've gained over this period and it's clear there isn't any comeback.
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So a very simplistic walk through a notional wine. There are too many holes in the above to define a 'typical wine' and variations are many. I've not covered Audouzing / slow oxygenation, Biodynamics, nor the myriad of subtle variations, bottle variation, (partial) seal failure, mood variation, faults, matched food, etc. etc. So many issues cloud this. Some wines might just steadily fade from bottling to demise, with little or no tertiary aromas. Others may hold in limbo for year after year, then either emerge slowly into delight or imbalance. We make guesses based on what we taste & past history (plus notes of others), but we know the variables are so great we're always taking a bit of a punt.
FWIW I'm happy to risk hitting old age/decline as I find the flavours more interesting than more youthful flavours. For others that would be giving up what they like for a mixed bag of junk - yes it might hide a prized antique, but most often it's junk to them.
Sorry for the utter ramble - hopefully thought provoking.
regards
Ian
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