Robin Garr wrote: I think that there's not much in the world of wine to surpass the complex, subtle richness of a <b>well-aged, properly mature cellarworthy wine</b>. But at the risk of sounding a little curmudgeonly, I've got to be honest and say that for every great older wine I encounter, there are nine, or maybe even 99, that should have been drunk up years older or discarded. Walnutty, Sherrylike oxidation doesn't excite me, and neither does barnyardy, chicken-coopy brett that has multiplied out of all control. I do think there's an unfortunate tendency among many wine geeks - and I don't deny that I do it myself - to go ga-ga over wines that are essentially spoiled, just because we know they're older great labels.
Now THAT is the truth!!
), I much prefer older wines, but then the way I drink may not be "standard". As I am a single guy, I have a whole bottle of older wine all by myself once or twice a week, and maybe a half bottle of something a couple other days of the week. There is nothing like the soft, complex, interesting subtleties of something where the tannins are fully resolved and the flavor components have all melded into a seamless unity.
I've picked up a few '81 red Burgs for instance, a vintage that is just not even reviewed, except to say it was "forgettable" etc. Well, with slow oxygenation, the wines have been excellent! But they were perhaps exceptions to the the general rule from that vintage perhaps - a Beaune from the Hospices, a Beze from Lupe Cholet (not exactly an esteemed negociant though, I think?). Likewise, with Bordeaux, I have been exploring '76s and '79s with great success. The '79 Gruaud is amazingly excellent. Wines like the '76 Duhart Milon are also excellent (and even Parker recognized early on that that wine was better than their '75, for instance).
