TODAY, SWEET, SWEET WINOS, we’re going to have ourselves a little geriatric “chat” about an age old question in the world of wine: is aged wine better?
Well, the best way to answer that question is to ponder a few others. So riddle you this:
WHAT CAN AGING DO FOR WINE?
The aging process of wine is typified by a series of complex chemical transformations, the chemistry of which is still not fully understood (LIKE ME!)
First of all, the aging process impacts the color of wines. For red wines, deep ruby or purple colors can eventually change from inky and dark to a lighter and more transparent shade, and turn brown or garnet (depending on the grape variety). For white wines, they will tend to turn deeper in color, and take on a more golden or even amber hue. This is due to the complex chemical reactions of the wine's phenolic compounds.
Bottle aging can also enhance the complexities of youthful wines, which typically exhibit more primary characteristics (fruit, floral, herbal, etc), as well as secondary flavors imparted by the winemaking process (oak, MLF, lees, etc).
As wines age, the primary fruit flavors recede like grandpa’s hairline, and age-related characteristics, known as "tertiary" notes become more pronounced (like grandpa’s ego).
In red wines, fresh ripe fruit starts to transform into stewed or dried fruits, such as raisin or fig, and tertiary aromas of tobacco, earth, leather, and mushroom emerge. In white wines, similar changes to the fruit flavors occur, and notes of nuts, petrol and honey often develop.
It is important to note that not all wines are suitable for aging, and rather than developing interesting tertiary notes that improve the complexity of the wine, they can become dominated by offensive oxidative notes and decline in balance. These wines are best enjoyed within the first few years of their release on the market.
HOW CAN I TELL IF A WINE IS SUITABLE FOR AGING?
Generally speaking, a wine is considered to improve with age if aging it increases the complexity without degrading the balance of the wine.
The ability of a wine to age successfully is influenced by factors such as grape variety, vintage, viticultural practices, wine region, and winemaking style — but when it comes down to it, there are 5 important and identifiable characteristics in a youthful wine that can best be used to determine the ageability:
Acidity: Over time, the acidity will soften, or become less harsh on the palate. Low acid wines will become flabby and have less longevity for that reason, as they will be thrown out of balance more quickly with age.
Tannins (red wine only): As a general principle, as wine ages, the ANGRY TANNINS polymerize and give way to a smoother and more refined mouthfeel (LIKE ME!). Wines that may be perceived as astringent or harsh in their youth, like Bordeaux, will often become much more approachable as they mature.
Alcohol: Wines with higher alcohol tend to age more slowly. Over the very, very long term, as alcohol levels decline in wines, they will naturally retain a higher abv, which can be beneficial to balance, and help the wine remain resistant to spoilage.
Flavor concentration: The more flavor concentration a wine has to begin with, the more it retains with age, and the more complexity it can develop. Wines that lack flavor concentration are much more likely to be dominated by oxidative characteristics and won’t develop as much complexity over time.
Sugar: Sugar content can slow down many of the chemical reactions related to aging, acting as a preservative.
There is no single universal formula to it, but the wine’s level of acidity, tannin, sugar, alcohol and overall concentration of flavors are all factors that pertain to its ageability. No one factor can necessarily predict the outcome, but all of these factors can be extremely useful when evaluating a wines aging potential.
For example, red wines with high levels of tannins and acidity (such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Sangiovese, Nebbiolo, Aglianico, Tempranillo, Syrah and others) can develop incredible complexity with a decade (OR MANY!) of aging in the bottle.
For the sake of keeping things more focused, we’ve decided to limit our reviews this week to red wines. While many of the underlying factors that determine whether a wine can improve with age apply to both white and red wine, certain structural qualities (like tannins) make red wines more common to be selected for aging.
So this week we went to a wine store called K&L (a chain in California) for some interesting bottles at various points in their aging process. All of the bottles we tasted turned out to be outstanding in quality, and this is most likely because of the characteristics we described above (and OF COURSE our impeccable ability to LITERALLY sniff out a great buy).
Profile: Cassis, blackberry, black plum, cedar, graphite, tobacco, earth, bay leaf, vanilla, chocolate, dusty basement
Medium+ acidity, medium+ tannins, full body, long finish. 14% abv.
Age related hallmarks of this wine: Interestingly, in spite of being the oldest (and BY FAR the most expensive) wine we tasted, the color was still quite ruby (rather than garnet or orange), though it of course was beginning to show some transformation in that regard and was more transparent than it would have been in its youth. In terms of flavors and aromas, tobacco, earth, bay leaf and “dusty basement” can all be attributed to the process of aging, and all lent themselves delightfully to the complexity of this wine, without snuffing out the intense primary & secondary characteristics it possessed. Still has aging potential.
High acidity, medium tannins, medium body, medium finish. 13.5% abv.
Age related hallmarks of this wine: Color was more watery and leaning into garnet. Tertiary aromas of soy sauce and leather, along with a bit of desiccation to the primary characteristics (dried fruits & herbs), added some age complexity to this wine. Concentration of flavors was not as intense as the other wines tasted, but this is not uncommon for Rioja.
Profile: Black cherry, cassis, tobacco, earth, cedar, eucalyptus, violets, herbs, chocolate, clove, tomato paste, wet stone
Medium+ acidity, medium+ tannins, full body, long finish. 13.5% abv.
Age-related hallmarks of this wine: Tobacco, tomato paste, earth. However, despite this wine experiencing nearly 15 years of bottle age, the concentrated black fruit aromas are still singing, but instead of dancing by themselves like a little fruit salad, they are now joined by a friendly ‘panoply’ of tertiary aromas and flavors such as tobacco, tomato paste and earth as noted above.
Medium+ acidity, medium+ tannins, full body, long finish. 14.3% abv.
Age-related hallmarks of this wine: Astonishingly, this wine showed almost no tertiary characteristics, from the color, which was deep and ruby, to the aromas and flavors which were completely dominated by the primary. We think this wine will probably continue to develop for years and could have incredible potential as those concentrated primary characteristics give way to some tertiary notes, given how well remarkably preserved they’ve been to date.
Blend: 88% Petite Sirah, 2% Syrah, 2% Peloursin, 8% Zinfandel
Profile: Black plum, blackberry, bay leaf, tar, tobacco, iron, pine, forest floor, balsamic, chocolate and “minerals”
High acidity, high tannins, full body, long finish. Extremely complex. 15% abv.
Age-related hallmarks of this wine: This Taurasi still has plenty of life in it due to the very high tannin and acidity (a feature of the Aglianico grape), but is starting to show some cute little tertiary notes of forest floor, tobacco, tar and balsamic (we’re in Italy).
SO… DOES AGING A WINE MAKE IT BETTER?
IT MIGHT! The reality is that not everyone prefers wine with aged characteristics, and not all wine improves with age (LIKE ME!).
As you’ve learned, whether or not a wine will improve with age depends largely on objective factors, but whether or not you’ll like it is still a subjective measure. Your personal preference will play a significant role in determining how much age you like on a bottle, and to figure that out, you need to familiarize yourself with a wide range of wines that you can try at various stages of development.
If you really just don’t like tertiary aromas and flavors, and prefer wines that deliver entirely fresh fruit, floral, and other primary notes, then you probably won’t enjoy an aged wine, even if it is suitable for aging.
For that reason, we encourage you to go out and try a bunch of wine ranging in age from fetal to geezerly, and put your implicit agism to the test. The results may blow your tiny (yet unrealistically powerful) little mind.
Until next time – happy drinking people.
Cheers!
Isaac & Zach
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