The older the berry, the sweeter the juice

By The weekly winer 7 January 2008 10:16:00

Most wine is usually consumed pretty soon after it is bought by the end consumer, but there has always been a mystique surrounding the aging of wines. 

Indeed most people have an opinion about storage and tips on how to best store ones favourite tipple.  Wine is among the few products that can improve with age. Most wine enthusiasts have at least a few bottles that they are saving up for a special occasion, or until the wine reaches its peak. 

There are a couple of issues that need to be considered when it comes to storing wine.  First, what wines are worth keeping, where to keep them, and how long should you keep them?  Planning ahead is always a wise choice since storage is in fact a long term activity.  Investing some time and effort early on will add to your enjoyment for years to come.  The best way to explain which wines are worth keeping is to explain which are not.  Usually cheap and light bodied wines are not worth keeping, so that eliminates the generic mass produced wines.  Also, if a wine is bottled and released within a couple months of vintage that usually means it's for drinking now, or if a wine is in a clear bottle then it may not be good for aging. 

Most wine lovers usually don't consider aging white wines, which is a pity because the rewards of aging whites are often comparatively greater than aging reds.  Riesling, Marsanne and Chenin blanc are varieties that are good for aging.  Rose wines aren't really worth aging, but there are exceptions.  Most quality red wines benefit from bottle aging. Many red wines are released onto the market with some bottle age already, but most will improve with a couple more years and some will improve for over a decade of further aging in suitable conditions.  Full bodied wines with higher levels of acid, alcohol and tannins are usually regarded as suitable for extended aging.

How wines age

The process of aging is not fully understood, but it involves a complex series of reactions between the chemical compounds called phenolics. These are the compounds mostly responsible for the colour, aroma, flavour and astringency of wine. Small amounts of oxygen are involved as well, but as we all know, if wine is exposed to too much oxygen it will quickly spoil.

There are hundreds of different phenolics in wine and the amounts of each compound will determine how a particular wine develops. No two wines will follow the same path, so although a lot is known about the science of aging, giving wine storage tips is based largely on intuition and experience.

Environmental factors, especially temperature, effect how quickly or slowly the chemical interactions in wine take place. The slower these reactions are, the more successful the aging process will be.

Wine Storage Tips

1. Don't expect wines with faults to lose them with bottle age.

2. Store wine with cork closures on their sides. Check them every few months to see there are no leaks.

3. Chose a place to store your wine that is relatively cool, and has the lowest seasonal and daily temperature variation.

4. Light can cause deterioration of wine, even in dark coloured glass.

5. Choose wines to age carefully. Read the label notes or consult the winemaker as to the ideal drinking time, but remember every wine is different and what happened to a previous vintage may not apply again. You can also get advice from a range of other sources, for example online wine discussion forums (like this)!

6. It is best to have at least a half a dozen bottles of each type, that way you can monitor the progress. If you are storing wine as an investment it is desirable to have dozen lots for sale.

7. I am not convinced that having a small wine fridge makes much sense. The cost of running the machine for several years to store such a small quantity seems entirely out of proportion with the marginal benefits you might get.

Storing wine

Ideally, wine should be kept in a cool, dark place that has a constant temperature of around 55, such as a basement. The most reliable way to control the temperature of wine is to rent commercial wine-storage space or buy a wine refrigerator for your home; companies including Sub-Zero and EuroCave offer such models.

 Best Wines to Cellar

Some experts believe that only one percent of all wines have the capacity to improve for more than a decade. In order to age successfully at all, a wine must have a fine balance among fruit, acidity and tannins. The following 15 are great cellar choices.

15 Top Bottles for the Cellar

1999 Taurino Notarpanaro Rosso del Salento ($17) This wildly fruity Italian wine, made mostly from Puglia's muscular Negroamaro grape, becomes refined as it ages. DRINK NOW, OR CELLAR for up to eight years.

2003 Foppiano Vineyards Bacigalupi Vineyard Petite Sirah ($18) Sonoma Valley Petite Sirah specialist Foppiano Vineyards produces one of the great bargains in ageable reds. Its spicy 2003 Bacigalupi Vineyard is loaded with blueberry fruit. DRINK NOW, OR CELLAR for up to 10 years.

2002 Château des Tours Vacqueyras ($33) This violet-scented, silky Grenache-based wine, made by Emmanuel Reynaud of legendary Château Rayas, transcends the difficult 2002 Rhône harvest. DRINK NOW, OR CELLAR for up to 12 years.

2003 Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Spätlese Riesling ($32) Zilliken is a great name in German Riesling, and this '03 shows why, joining vibrant lime-peach flavors to thrilling acidity. DRINK NOW, OR CELLAR for up to 15 years.

1999 Giuseppe Rainoldi Fruttaio Ca'Rizzieri Sfursat di Valtellina ($75) Flamboyantly aromatic, with notes of coffee and roasted nuts, this Nebbiolo from Lombardian producer Rainoldi is made from grapes that are air-dried, then pressed and fermented. DRINK NOW, OR CELLAR for up to 15 years.

2001 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Crozes-Hermitage Domaine de Thalabert ($30) This inky, peppery Syrah from one of the Rhône's greatest producers has been a value since its first vintage, in 1953. DRINK NOW, OR CELLAR for up to 15 years.

2001 Yalumba the Octavius Old Vine Shiraz ($100) Yalumba, Australia's oldest family-owned winery, makes this blackberry-rich, seductive Shiraz from the intense fruit of ancient Barossa vines. DRINK NOW, OR CELLAR for up to 17 years.

2001 Fisher Vineyards Wedding Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon ($125) In the terrific 2001 vintage, winemaker Whitney Fisher made a powerful, red currant-driven Cabernet from the fruit of this terraced Sonoma vineyard. DRINK NOW, OR CELLAR for up to 17 years.

2001 Château Palmer ($130) The red-fruited '01 Palmer, from one of Margaux's most famous châteaus, is deceptively open at first, then its wire-taut tannins clamp down. CELLAR for five years, then drink for the next 12.

2001 Poderi Colla Barolo Bussia Dardi Le Rose ($60) The 2001 vintage produced amazing Barolos, like this imposingly tannic wine from Poderi Colla, a family that's been making top wines in the Langhe hills since 1703. CELLAR for five years, then drink for the next 15.

1996 Dom Pérignon ($150) As top Champagnes like this firm, layered one, age, their acidity mellows and they gain complex aromas of nuts, brioche, even roasted coffee beans. DRINK NOW, OR CELLAR for up to 20 years.

2003 Quinta de Roriz Vintage Port ($60) This famous quinta's spicy, wild-berry-flavored '03 vintage gets some of its exotic character from the unusual Sousão grape. DRINK NOW, OR CELLAR for up to 30 years.

STAR SELECTIONS

1996 Contino Gran Reserva ($65)

One of the first single-vineyard Riojas, this velvety, cherry-vanilla-scented wine is very long-lived; vintages from the '60s are still drinking gorgeously. DRINK NOW, OR CELLAR for up to 20 years.

1995 Royal Tokaji Aszú Mézes Mály ($115/500ml)

This gold-colored sweet wine, full of honey-apricot flavor, is a six-puttonyos Tokay, the highest quality level. DRINK NOW, OR CELLAR for up to 30 years.

1997 Tyrrell's Vat 1 Hunter Valley Sémillon ($40)

Great Australian Hunter Valley Sémillons like this 1997, the current vintage, are lemony and tart when young, but over time gain a distinctive, waxy, nutty depth. DRINK NOW, OR CELLAR for up to 15 years.

Let me know if you have any favourites that you've been storing away for a special occasion!

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