In a nutshell, the answer is no.
It’s probably one of the most pervasive myths in the wine world that all wine either matures or at least remains drinkable indefinitely. Wine doesn’t come with a use by date but perhaps it should. Wine is a consumable foodstuff like any other and eventually goes off and the time it takes to do so is probably much shorter than you would expect.
What happens to wine in the bottle?
The constituent components continue to react with one another which change the wine. The ageing process is very complicated, but the basics are thus:
• White wine gets darker in colour whereas red wine gets lighter.
• All wines lose their initial fruitiness.
• The tannins in red wine soften and eventually form a deposit.
Why doesn’t wine keep?
Like most things, wine loses its flavour over time. To have a wine that lasts, you need an overload of flavour and tannin and structure to start with which can be quite unappealing. The vast majority of wine is consumed within a few hours of being purchased, so it makes sense for producers to make wines that are enjoyable immediately. No one wants to make wine that people are going to think is disappointing when they open it. You can reasonably expect a bottle of wine to keep for about 3 years and bear in mind that white wine matures more quickly than red.
What’s different about wine that does age well?
Extraordinary raw ingredients. The secret to successful ageing is to find wines that develop what are known as tertiary characteristics. Primary characters come from the grapes, they’re youthful, fruity and bright and these fade over time. Secondary characters come from winery treatments (usually ageing wine in oak barrels). Tertiary characters develop when the wine matures: the primary and secondary characters harmonise then fade and these tertiary flavours come to the fore but that only happens very rarely. Most of the time the primary and secondary flavours fade leaving nothing. Tertiary flavours are really interesting – they can be leathery, cedary, gamey, smokey, smell like mushroom or forest floor. To put it in human terms, the youthful superficial beauty wears off, and you need something substantial underneath that will develop and shine over time.
How can you tell if a wine will age?
In terms of taste, they’re probably not all that nice when very young. Reds can be very tannic and a bit dense in their youth; they need time to soften out and find their groove. Reds and whites can be a bit clunky when young and need time for all the elements to knit together and become smooth and harmonious. Ageworthy wines are top of the tree in the wine world and they do come with a price tag to match. Not only are they significantly more expensive to produce, but they are relatively rare and highly prized.
The classic French regions of Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Rhône are all likely sources of ageworthy wines but the same rules apply – it’s the top few rather than the majority at the mid to lower end.
Good estates often make a top wine in small quantities that will age nicely. Domaine Gayda Chemin de Moscou is a great example. It wouldn’t keep for 50 years but it should last comfortably for a decade.
Really good estates from the New World do have some fantastic value wines that will age very nicely indeed and in terms of fine wine, some countries offer very good value for money e.g. South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina. Boekenhootskloof, Dog Point, Kilikanoon and Achaval Ferrer have some superb wines that will age very comfortably. California has some world class wine that will age beautifully – Ridge, Rochioli and Shafer are all outstanding producers.
Is there a difference between white and red wines when it comes to age?
We would estimate that around 10% of top reds and 5% of top whites improve for 5 years and an even smaller percentage improve for 10 years of more. Riesling and Semillon are capable of ageing and maturing beautifully for decades. Helmut Donnhoff, Ernst Loosen are excellent Riesling producers and white Bordeaux can age well. Really good white Burgundy does age well in the mid-term but very little actually improves more than 5 to 10 years.
Does any fine wine come already matured?
Thankfully yes.
Rioja is a superb example of wine that is released onto the market when perfectly mature. Reservas and Gran Reservas are particularly good and have had several years in barrel and bottle. They are particularly good value for money too.
Tawny port is perfectly mature when it’s released for sale. It’s aged for 10, 20 or 30 years in oak barrels and is perfectly ready to drink when it’s bottled and released to market. Not to be confused with vintage port and it doesn’t benefit the wine to keep it for much longer.
Champagne. Non vintage champagne is released to the market after extensive ageing in the cellars. Vintage champagne will age but again is released when it’s judged to be ready.
Which are the most long lived wines?
Vintage port. It will outlive your grandchildren.
Madeira. It’s virtually indestructible.
Top quality (botrytised) dessert wines such as Sauternes, Barsac and Rieslings.
