Does anyone know how to distinguish what wines are best to drink when you buy them and which ones should age?

Question

I would like answers from people who actually know and are not guessing. Thank you.

Answer 1

Unfortunately, there's no easy answer to this that will give you 100% certainty when looking at a bottle of wine - short of asking the people who work there about any wine you're interested in (a good reason to shop at specialty wine shops, by the way). Tasting it is always the best way, but unless you have a few bottles of the same wine, probably only useful after the fact. ;)

There are, however, a few clues that you can use to guesstimate if a wine is made for aging or for immediate drinking. None of these are true in all situations, and there will be exceptions everywhere; nevertheless, if you keep these things in mind, it should help you figure out which wines are which.

Price - As a general rule the less expensive the wine, the more likely it's made for immediate consumption. Wine under about $15 will almost certainly be made to drink early, while those over $100 are equally certainly made for long term storage. Between that, it's very much a sliding scale - the pricier a bottle is, the more likely you'll need to wait for it to be worth it.

Colour - It is not true that all white as made to be drunk early and all reds made for aging. That said, as a general rule, there are many more reds that are ageworthy than whites. This is mostly due to the tannin levels in a wine. Rose wines are even less likely to be ageable than white wines.

Alcohol - As a general rule, the more alcoholic a wine, the longer it can be safely laid down in your cellar.

Sugar - This tends to be a bit of a parabolic curve. Very dry wines are more likely to be ageable than semi-sweet wines, but very sweet dessert wines (Sauternes, Tokaji, Icewines, etc...) are almost always very long lived.

Grape - There are some grape varieties that take better to aging than others. This is a very tough catagory to easily explain, because there are hundreds of different grape varieties. Some grapes that are more likely to be cellared than most are Cabernet Sauvignon, Nebbiolo, Chardonnay, Riesling, Merlot, Tempranillo, Gruner Veltliner, and Pinot Noir. Please note that this is NOT an extensive list, and that even wines from grapes on this list can be made for early drinking.

Region: As a general rule, New World (US, Canada, Australia, Chile, etc...) wines are made for earlier drinking than Old World (France, Spain, Italy, etc...) wines.

Age: Wines from very recent vintages (so anything right now made in 2006) are most likely to be early drinking wines. Likewise, wines from very old vintages (anything before 1990) have probably spent enough time in the cellar of the store to be ready to drink. Anything between that, and it becomes much tougher to say for certain.

Body: This is a tough one to know for sure if you're just looking at a bottle and havn't tried it before - another reason to ask your local wine merchant - but the heavier a wine feels in your mouth, the more likely it can be aged.

That's a brief summary of some of the more important (and easily identifiable) things to look for when determining if a wine is best to drink right away, or if it can benefit from more time being aged.

The most important thing to remember, is that a wine is ready to drink whenever you enjoy it. Some people prefer the taste of very young wines, even those that are made for aging; some people prefer even their Beaujolais Nouveau (a wine that is traditionally drunk before the end of the year in which it was harvested) to have a few years before they drink it. There's nothing wrong with either - you just need to learn your personal preferences.

Answer 2

Generally, you can go by price. A $4 Beringer White Zin, two buck chuck, or essentially any wine under $30-$40 is not going to benefit from aging. However, there are a few (some $40 California or Chilean Cabs and even a few Chateauneuf du Papes) that will benefit from aging and some $40 wines that will not (Also some California and Chilean Cabs). Not all wine benefits from aging. A Fetzer Merlot is not going to turn into a Cheval Blanc St. Emillion after aging for 10 years.

Contrary to the poor information given by another answerer, white wine ABSOLUTELY can age. Good Sauternes can go indefinately, when stored correctly. White Burgundy & Bordeaux can easily be aged - when of good quality.

And as far as the Dom Perignon answer - actually, the current vintage of Dom is ready to drink. You can sit on it, but it's a wine that someone would buy to age.

Most wine purchased is meant to be drunk right away. When you start looking at investment wine, start talking to the people in wine shops and in wine sections. They can steer you the right direction.

There are also lots of vintage charts available online. These charts can help you decide when to buy from certain regions. Also, get a subscription to Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, or a similar magazine. They will often select bottles that are 'collectible' and will feature regions that have prime aging potential for a certain vintage.

Good luck to you. : )

Answer 3

All white wines are to be drunk right after purchase, and don't need any aging. Most red wines that you will buy can also be drunk right after buying, since they have already been aged prior to bottling. Only a real special wine really requires more aging at home. Any wine dealer should be helpful on what the prime time is to drink the wine, whether a few years, or a few decades. After a certain amout of time wine starts going bad and is no longer drinkable. A lot of the bottles people have from the ealry 1900's or 1800's are no longer drinkable because they have passed their prime. They are now just collectable wines.

Answer 4

There is no hard fast rule that I know of. I know most good French wines require aging, but a good bit of American wines can be consummed from the shelf. A good resource for you (other than further research on the internet and/or library) would be a wine magazine. Wine Spectator has excellent tear out charts and recommendations in every issue. I suggest that you pick out a region of wines that you like and do further research into that region.

Answer 5

Dom Perignon

Sula