Old wine or new wine that is the question...
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| Picture from pixabay.com |
This week I had an opportunity to drink a 2008 Stratus White
and I doubt you’ll be able to find it at LCBO or even at Stratus Vineyard. I was worried because I’ve read that some
white wines don’t age well at all. Eight years later it was still pretty good
wine. I wasn’t disappointed at all.
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| 8 year old bottle of white wine. |
To help explain the whole process cellaring wine,
winefolly.com, put together an infographic, which helped me a lot during my research for this post. From what I gather wine is an
investment. You have to think of it like
the stock market. Hold on to that bottle
of wine because it’ll become unique in 10-15 years. Basically, tannin is an acid that breaks down alcohol over time, which makes the wine taste more palatable. At least this explains why and how long to
cellar wine for. It certainly doesn’t
answer my question of why wine is better with age.
Through what I’ve learned through the wonderful world of
Google, white wine can become vinegar if you age it for too long. However, some reds you can age for 40 plus
years and it’ll be amazing. This is
because of the tannins that you find in red wines. The longer the tannins break down the better the red wine. It is recommended to cellar a Riesling for
only 3-5 years.
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| Grapes matter, photo credit: pixabay.com |
According to Rick Vansickle, a very good year for Niagara Wines was 2013. Vansickle is a local wine reporter who had articles in the St. Catharines Standard. Vansickle's reasoning behind this was the sunny and hot days of 2011, which made more good grape growing. All these factors add to make a great wine. You can keep a bottle in a cellar for long periods of time but if the year the process was started it could still end poorly. You also have to take in the age of the grape vine. It all matters when it comes to wine.
The thing is, with any beverage, you like what you like. Some people like wine that tastes like gasoline. Some people like wine that tastes like leather. At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter. I got to drink wine with someone I enjoy the company of and I enjoyed every minute of it. My advice to you all is drink what you enjoy, and if your lucky, drink it with someone you enjoy it with.
I never knew that white wine could turn to vinegar if it's aged too long. Also, I LOVE your blog title picture!
ReplyDeleteI never knew that white wine could turn to vinegar if it's aged too long. Also, I LOVE your blog title picture!
ReplyDeleteI never knew red wine could age for that long and still be good (if not better). Here is to hoping that we all can age as gracefully as wine.
ReplyDeleteLove the cover photo Jon!! I knew that reds could age forever, but I find myself always holding onto nice whites that I have been given as gifts. I love white but I feel the need to save the good ones for an occasion! Good to know my storage is not going to waste!
ReplyDeleteNot a huge wine fan, but certainly would try this old one. Its like history in the bottle, very interesting!
ReplyDeleteI am learning so much about wine and food.. I am now know how important it is to pair good food with wine ... Thanks
ReplyDelete