Is the older the wine, the better?

The better the wine, the more it can stand aging. More than 90% of the wine on the market can't be aged, so it's best to drink it within 2 years. Old-value wines are generally more expensive. Of course, on the other hand, the more expensive the wine, the more inclined it is to have stronger aging ability when brewing. Of course, it does not include the high-priced wine fried in China. Therefore, if you want to buy some wine and store it for 7-8 years, you should still consider the economic problem.

Basic concept of aging

To talk about aging, we need to clarify some basic concepts. These basic concepts describe the evolution of a bottle of wine throughout its life cycle. After wine is bottled, there is a change process in the bottle, which can be basically divided into rising period, drinking period and falling period.

The so-called rising period is the stage of wine development in the bottle. Not all wines have this stage. Most new world wines, even top-class wines, can be drunk immediately after listing. However, some old world wines are more obvious in this rising period. It is not suitable for drinking when it first comes out, or it is too sour and unbalanced, or it is closed and has no aroma. It will take several years to continue to develop and mature in the bottle before it becomes perfect and smooth.

The suitable drinking period is the stage when wine becomes relatively perfect and smooth, and the best and most balanced time is called the peak period. After the peak period, the wine began to decline slowly, with a large loss of aroma and unbalanced taste. It entered a recession, was not suitable for drinking, and even turned sour into vinegar.

Aging and preservation state

The problem of wine aging was studied, and it was finally found that oxygen had the greatest influence on wine aging. Someone once did an experiment in which wine was divided into six different test tubes, three of which were filled, the other three were only half filled, and the remaining half was filled with air, and then stuffed with stoppers. After opening bottles at different times, it was found that the wine in the test tube with air could become as old as a few years ago in just a few months.

The change of wine in the bottle is a slow process, and the cork can slowly penetrate oxygen to let the wine continue to develop in the bottle. Poor preservation environment will accelerate this process, make the wine mature too fast, and the wine will soon become rough or even rancid. The wine should be stored horizontally in the dark, shockproof, temperature 10- 18 degrees and humidity 70-80%. Other methods will accelerate the maturation of wine and even turn it into a bottle of vinegar.

Aging and wine types

The wines that can be aged mainly include high-grade dry red wine, sweet white wine, top-grade dry white wine, vintage champagne and port wine.

Red wine contains tannin, which itself is an antioxidant, so the amount of tannin plays an important role in the aging ability of wine (of course, the heavier the better). Tannin needs time to soften. Through proper contact with oxygen and reflection of other substances in wine, new substances can be generated, which increases the complexity of wine. Most dry red wines can be stored for 1-2 years without any problems, except that beaujolais needs to drink them after several months. High-grade dry red wine needs to be aged for a period of time before it can develop into a suitable drinking period.

Dry white wine is generally in the drinking period as soon as it is listed, and it can be opened for drinking. Moreover, liquor has no tannin and can be aged in a short time. Of course, there are some very top white wines that can be aged for a long time, but they are very few. Most sweet liquors have certain aging ability. Champagne without vintage can also be drunk at the time of listing without aging. However, the aging time of some expensive vintage champagne, vintage champagne and famous champagne can reach 10-20 years or even longer. With the aging, champagne will become more and more exquisite, but it will gradually lose its vitality and strength.

Porter wine is special, it is produced after a long period of aging, and can be aged in bottles for a long time, especially vintage Porter wine. However, it is relatively rare in the domestic market at present.

Aging and wine year

The quality of wine is determined by the vintage, and the aging ability of wine is also determined accordingly. If it is rainy and humid this year, the grape skin is thin and there is a lot of water, this year's wine will generally ripen quickly and will not age. In hot and dry years, the grape skin is thicker, the tannin is stronger and the aging ability is better.

The aging ability of wine mainly depends on the "potential" of wine, which comes from tannin, acidity, aroma substances and so on. The better the wine, the more these ingredients, and correspondingly more complex ingredients can be obtained through aging. Here are some factors that affect aging. The best way to know how long a wine can last is to taste it. Of course, you need some experience. The best way is to buy a dozen bottles of wine and open one every 3-6 months to see the development. The simple way is to open a bottle of wine and drink it slowly. If it maintains a stable structure for a long time, it can be maintained for a period of time.

Aging and grape varieties and producing areas

Grape varieties have a great influence on wine aging. As I said just now, tannin is an important indicator of the adult ability of red wine. Different grape varieties and different skins produce different tannins, which affects the aging ability of wine accordingly.

For white grape varieties, most white wines cannot be aged, and for some varieties in some producing areas, some have good aging ability.

Riesling: Germany has a good aging ability above QmP level, and some riesling of BA and TBA level can be aged for quite a long time. Riesling dry white produced in Alsace, France can also be aged 10 years or more. Besides Riesling, Alsace, Muscat, Pinot Grigio and Ming Na of other noble varieties can also be aged for a long time, sometimes more than 10 years.

Sauvignonlanc: Most Sauvignon Blanc should be drunk as soon as possible, whether it is from Loire Valley, New Zealand, California, etc. Only Bordeaux dry white wine, which is a mixture of Sauvignon and Semillon, can be aged for a certain period of time.

Chardonnay: Chardonnay can be older than Sauvignon, and Granclu in Burgundy and Granclu in Chablis can be older than 65,438+00 years.

The red grape variety that can be aged is the variety with thick skin. Of course, the better the wine, the older it is.

CabernetSauvignon: As a widely planted grape variety, Cabernet Sauvignon has good aging ability in both the new world and the old world. Of course, as a place to let the world know about Cabernet Sauvignon, in Bordeaux, France, it takes a long time for top wines to mature and reach the drinking period. Wine like ChateauLatour may take 15-20 years, and ChateauMontrose may take longer. In the new world, there are fewer such problems. Even top-class wines can be drunk without aging when they are just on the market, but they can still be aged for a long time.

Shiraz/Shiraz: It's also a variety that can be aged, whether it's Tashi or Cotrotti in Elmy from the Bellon River or Shiraz from South Australia.

Tempranillo: It is the main wine in rioja and can be aged. Some RiojaGranReserva have been aged for nearly 65,438+00 years before listing, but they can still be aged for more than 65,438+00 years after listing.

Nebiolo: A noble variety of Piedmont in northern Italy. Barbaresco and Barolo brewed by this variety can be aged 10- 15 years.

PinotNoir: It is the main variety of Burgundy, but it is cultivated all over the world. It is a thin-skinned variety and matures quickly. Only the GrandCru in Burgundy can have a long-term aging ability.

Gamay: It's almost a grape variety that can't be aged. Beaujolais new wine needs to be drunk within 3 months. Only a few beaujolais wines can be aged for a long time, such as Murinavente and Morgan. (You can refer to BeaujolaisCrus's previous article. )

Generally speaking, old world wines, especially good red wines, need to continue to develop in bottles for a period of time after they are put on the market, while new world wines generally don't need this.