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| It's Not Always Easy Deciding When to Open a Bottle |
| When should you pop the cork? Many people buy a bottle of Cabernet to go with the roast they’re preparing that night or, stop by the wine store on their way to a friend’s house and then enjoy the bottle that evening. |
| And for most wines such quick consumption is just fine. The vast majority of wines available on retail shelves is meant for near-term drinking and will not improve with time. But there are still plenty of wines that will improve over time or require further aging to be enjoyable. And it’s not just full-bodied reds that benefit from aging. Some white and sparkling wines will evolve or improve with cellaring Whether a wine should be enjoyed young or aged depends primarily on the grape and the weather of the year’s vintage in each particular region. For example grapes including Cabernet Sauvignon, Nebbiolo (used to make Italian wines such as Barolo), Touriga Nacional (used in Port) and Pinot Noir typically contain higher levels of tannins which require time to evolve and allow the wine to improve. Other grapes such as Merlot, Carmenere, Barbera or Zinfandel typically have lower tannin levels and are naturally fruitier, making wines more appropriate for younger consumption. On the white side of things; acidity, sugar and production techniques are better determinants of a wine’s life expectancy than tannins. Almost all domestic whites are ready to drink upon release, but several European wines will improve over time. White wines from Burgundy – Chardonnays – last 10 or more years with top vintages lasting decades. Similarly the unique combination of acidity and sugar in German Rieslings make them excellent wines to be enjoyed many years after release. Keeping track of vintages is a full-time job and beyond the reach or interest of most wine lovers. Fortunately, The Wine Spectator provides an annual review of vintages from major wine regions, giving each region an overall score and indicating whether the wines are “not yet released,” “ready to drink,” “drink or hold”, “hold” or “past prime.” Keep in mind that such ratings are representative of all wines in a given region and year. There may be considerable variance among individual bottlings, making the vintage ratings more of a guide than a rule. A “drink” rating indicates that the wine is ready for consumption and will not improve in quality as time passes. A “drink or hold” indicates that the wine can be enjoyed now or it can be saved for the future. A “not yet released” rating is for new vintages that have not been released while a “hold” designation is for vintages that still need time to achieve peak drinking quality. Vintage Example: Piedmont Consider the two charts below as examples of how the vintage rating can vary within a single area. The first is The Wine Spectator’s evaluation of vintages in Italy’s Piedmont region, home to Barolo and Barbaresco. |
| The range is because the wines are still too immature to fully evaluate. I recently tasted 30 of these wines and they definitely need time to achieve balance and maturity. The 2002 vintage received a poor rating of 72 points out of 100 and thus The Wine Spectator says to drink those wines now. The wines from the previous four vintages are “drink or hold” receiving “outstanding” (90 -94) and “classic” (95 – 100) ratings. The most interesting part of the chart is 1997 vintage which was harvested nearly 10 years ago. The Spectator gave it 99 points, but calls it a “hold,” because these wines need more time in the bottle before reaching their peak. You also see two vintages – 1992 & 1991) that are considered “past peak” preceded by the highly rated 1990 vintage which is still very drinkable. Vintage Example: Bordeaux Next consider The Wine Spectator’s evaluation of wines from Bordeaux’s Pomerol & St. Emilion region. These wines are blends of grapes with Merlot typically the single largest contributor followed by Cabernet Sauvignon. While the vintage scores are consistently high, the drinking recommendations vary depending on the year and the weather. Continue to Next Page |
