Maybe you’re browsing your wine stash for something “safe” to drink on a Wednesday night, or staring down a fancy-looking gifted bottle trying to decide if it’s ready to finally open. Maybe you’re scanning the shelves of your favorite wine shop seeking a bottle worth keeping for a few years. At some point, every wine lover has experienced the classic question when considering a bottle of wine: Should I drink this now, or save it to age?
There is no right or wrong answer. That said, while any wine can age, that doesn’t necessarily mean it should. Some bottles are better with a bit of added maturity, while others are designed to be ready upon release.
“The most ageworthy wines have a long to über-long finish, meaning their flavors last a long time after you’ve swallowed the wine,” says wine writer and critic Christy Canterbury, MW. “Those lingering flavors mean the wine has very good concentration, which is effectively the stamina for a wine. Ageworthy wines should also have good structural balance. The tannins, acidity, and fruit shouldn’t feel like gangly knees and elbows.”
Thankfully, there are a few tips and tricks that can help guide you on your journey of drink-or-hold roulette.
Quick tip #1
Check the finish. If the wine’s flavors linger long after you swallow — and its tannin, acidity, and fruit feel balanced — it’s likely sturdy enough to reward cellaring.
First ask, why do you want to age your wine?
A key exercise to help guide your decision making is to first consider why you are cellaring that bottle to begin with — what are you hoping will change and why do you think it will be better?
Generally speaking, flavor-wise, aging a wine will encourage the softening of primary and secondary flavors in favor of the development of tertiary characteristics. Texturally, tannins will soften as a wine matures, as will acidity, although alcohol and sugar remain at consistent levels.
“Most wine produced is meant to be consumed within a year of its release, so the first thing we have to think about is, ‘Do I even like old wine?’” says TJ Douglas, CEO and founder of Drink Progressively Group, which includes The Urban Grape retail shops in Boston and Washington, D.C. “This is really important to figure out before you start investing in wine that you won’t even drink for years.”
Save tasting notes of wines you try, to help hone in on the styles and flavors you gravitate towards. This will steer you toward drinking windows that better accommodate enjoyment of those characteristics within any given wine type or style.
For example, if you prefer notes of dried fruits over juicy ones, or prominent earthy, forest-found characteristics, aging wine for a medium or long term might be of benefit to your palate. However, if you’re all about fresh fruitiness and would rather not sniff abundant tar or leather tones, then you’d likely be happier drinking your favorite wines younger, regardless of what common wine wisdom says about any given selection.
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