When to Age a Wine

Most of us love the idea of being able to age a wine.

Knowing that we are in the midst of creating something that could be profoundly epic in our minds is worth holding onto to a bottle of wine for a decade. Being able to age a wine isn’t based solely on whether you have the correct storage unit or not. Even if you have a million dollar storage unit, if you do not have the right wine you are setting yourself up for a huge disappointment.

There are a few key factors that can help you determine any wines ability to age well. There are four characteristics that you should look for a wine. In order to determine if the wine will be able to age well you will need to examine the wines residual sugar, and the tannin structure. You should also look at the wines alcohol level and its acidity level.

In most cases a wine that has a high amount of residual sugar may not age well. There have been a few exceptions to this theory. Sherry and Riesling wines have been found to be a few of the sweet wines that will hold up to aging. More often than not, dry wines are usually aged and will have a lower amount of residual sugar.

The tannin structure is also a crucial element to wine aging. The tannin structure must be balanced within the wine in order for it to age well. Red wines with higher tannins age better than wines with low tannins. This is because the tannins act as a structural support for the wine. As these tannins break down it allows the wine to maintain a constant balance allowing all the components of the wine to blend well together. (Editor's Note, a reasonable look at the perhaps forever ongoing debate between Napa Valley and Bordeaux)

Alcohol level is also a deciding factor in wines ability to age. A high alcohol volume in a wine can prevent it from being able to age. The alcohol in wine can cause a wine to turn into vinegar over a period of time. The lower the alcohol volume the better chance the wine has at aging. (Ok, maybe we found someone who really is a Francofile. This is pretty common wisdom within the wine industry, but when people have done follow up tastings, like Robert Parker has done for the wines that competed in the original Judmgent of Paris, there's no statistical signifcance to the differences in aging between higher alcohol and lower alcohol wines)

The last factor to look for in a wine is its acidity level. Wines that age well often have a higher acidity level. Having a higher acidity level is a vital component to aging a wine because as the wine ages it loses some of its acidity. As a result of the loss of acidity the wine will often be bland and dreary. Starting out with a higher acidity level means the wine will last longer and will have a chance at maintaining its taste. These four key factors will help you to sift through wines and decided on which ones may hold up to aging. While a lot of the aging process is a matter of trial and error, it helps to have a few characteristics to look for to tip the odds in the wines favor. While these factors play a role, your storage method will also affect the aging process of a wine. (Editor: as a wine of the month club we know that about 98% of wine is consumed within 48 hours of purchase, but that being said, there are opportunities to ship some wine that people will be happy to age, at least for a while)