Wine Ageing and Storage

I wanted to do a quick refresher on wine storage and ageing wines. A lot of people believe that all wines will better with age. Most people are wrong; wines are like people, some age gracefully but most whither away like old fruit pinning for their youthful days.


AGEING WINE:

90% of wine in the world is made to be consumed in the first few years after it is released. Only the finest wine, some fortified wine or wine from vines with certain DNA, will benefit from ageing. A wine needs to have a strong backbone to be able to age and by that I mean  good acidity, tannin, and fruit complexity. If a wine isn't that complex at 1-3 years old it isn't going to get more complex with age. If the wine is mainly fruity, with little acidity or tannin it most certainly won't age. Whites tend to not age as well as reds, but there are still great examples of whites that will age for decades. Wines like German Rieslings, and oaked Chardonnay's like a nice Premier or Grand Cru Burgundy.

As a wine ages the taste will change from the fresh fruity flavours, to oxidative flavours like toffee, coffee, caramel, toast, vanilla; or to more savory aromas like mushrooms, earth, and in those German Rieslings their characteristic petrol aromas. Yes, petrol/gas will be present in high end and aged German Rieslings, or other Rieslings made in that style.

All wines have a time where there past their prime, maybe dull and a bit lifeless. Lost are all the pleasant aromas you would be hoping for, so don't wait too long to drink your wine. Most premium wines have a 'drinking window' meaning when they may be mature, most complex, and the true expression of the winemakers efforts.


STORAGE:

The key to good wine storage is consistency in temperature and humidity. This means the kitchen counter or the fancy wine bottle holder in the window are bad places to put wine you plan on aging. If you plan to store wine longer than a few months you should take some precautions to ensure your investment. This could even be the back of your closet. You don't need a dedicated wine fridge until the wine you're storing far exceeds the cost of the fridge. I currently have the one seen below that holds 28-36 bottles depending on bottle size. If you want to store long term your wine needs to be away from daylight because UV can damage the wine. It also needs to be at a constant temperature with constant humidity to avoid the chance of spoilage. If your collection grows bigger then your space you can find professional wine storage services. These range from private liquor store storage for preferred customers right up to self-serve U-store style temp controlled garage units.


Temperature has a large impact. The warmer the temperature the faster it will mature, but the slower it matures the more complex it may turn out to be. Ideally somewhere between 10-15C if you have a dedicated fridge or cellar. If the wine has a cork then you will want to lay the bottles on their sides so the cork remains moist.

The other issue with wine storage is a mental one, .....can you forget about this amazing wine for a week, month, 1 year, 5 years, a decade?

Some Bordeaux and Ports can age 80-100 years and still be quite pleasant to consume, but it's not in my plans to buy wine for my future kids to consume. I will buy a bottle for their birth vintage for them to enjoy at some point after drinking age, and with their Dad I hope :)

(no rights to pictures; not for commercial purposes)