Youth or Maturity – What Tickles Your Fancy?
Decisions, decisions. When it comes to selecting a wine, everybody has their likes and dislikes. You might like only a particular variety, you might prefer a sweet wine over a dry wine, or you might just like white wine, and not red. These are all important factors to consider when choosing the right wine for you, but there is also another factor. Do you like them young, or do you prefer them to be a little more mature?
Choosing a wine is like choosing a partner. Being a woman in her mid 30’s myself, it is always an arduous decision. Hmmm… will I go for a young one that is fresh, fruity, exuberant and vibrant, and packs an exciting punch? Or, could I be seduced by one with some maturity; with a little more age under the belt. One that has some mystique, subtleness and an air of complexity about it, when each time you meet you never quite know what are going to get?
But you have to be careful here. Not all wines (maybe like some people) get better with age. Some are best consumed whilst in their youth, and some wines have a greater capability of ageing. Red wines such as Pinot Noir and Sangiovese which have a low pH; and Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, which have higher levels of tannins and flavour compounds, are wines that respond beautifully to ageing, depending on the vintage, viticultural practices, winemaking style and storage.
For white wines, those with a higher amount of acidity, such as Semillon and Riesling, tend to have the longest aging potential. Winemaking practices such as barrel fermentation and oak aging in wines such as Semillon and Chardonnay create wonderful complex characters in a wine that develop with age, and Riesling also is a wine that evolves wonderfully in the bottle as it matures.
The complexity that these aging wines can display can be magnificent, and can transport you to another dimension when you put your nose in the glass. But then, so can the freshness and youthful exuberance of wines best drunk young, such as Sauvignon Blanc, or Grenache, which both impart vibrant fruit characters each time you drink them. The choice is completely up to you. For me, it’s simple – I like to swing both ways.
3 Responses to “Youth or Maturity – What Tickles Your Fancy?”
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I am in your camp so to speak – swing both ways – whereas my girlfriend likes’m young (she’s not a cougar though). I have a pretty decent personal cellar of old Californians, French Bordeaux & Rhones and a smattering of Oz wines and when they are spot on, they are glorious. That said about old wines, I do like to catch them on the upward curve of the arch rather than the slippery too old slope that the Brits seem to prefer (in my drinking experience). I have recently had a series of 1986 Bordeaux from my cellar that are still kicking ass & taking names and some absolutely sublime 89 & 90 Rhones that would make your palate (and heart) sing.
I have to say, it’s all about the journey and the story and young wines very rarely have a story to tell. Even good Sauv blanc will have a story after 3-5 years of aging. Having said that, there are times when I will stray for something younger.
Michael, I agree with you whole-heartedly on that fact. It is definitely all about the journey, and it is great to taste the same wine over years, and experience how that wine changes.