Does cellaring a bottle of wine add to its life?
Aged wine can be magical, but not all wines get better with time ...
Hello there! I'm Dr. Vinifera, but you can call me Vinny. Ask me your toughest wine questions, from the fine points of etiquette to the science of winemaking. And don't worry, I'm no wine snob—you can also ask me those "dumb questions" you're too embarrased to ask your wine geek friends! I hope you find my answers educational, empowering and even amusing. And don't forget to check out my most asked questions and my full archives for all my Q&A classics.
Dear Dr. Vinny,
Does cellaring a bottle add to the life of the wine?
—Hugh, Oxford, Miss.
Dear Hugh,
I love a good philosophical question. By virtue of aging a wine you are in fact adding to the life of it, especially compared to just opening it and drinking it right away. That’s profound.
That said, it’s not as simple as saying every wine should be cellared—the old adage about wine “getting better with time” doesn’t always apply. First off, as a wine ages, it doesn’t necessarily get better: It evolves. What it evolves into might be an exciting thing to witness as a wine lover, but that depends on your taste and personal preferences. You might not like it at all. Some people prefer their wines to be young and fresh, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Another point to consider is that not every wine is going to age the same way. Some wines are built with structure and concentration that make them good candidates for the cellar. Tannins and other polyphenols, as well as sugar, acidity and alcohol, can help wines evolve favorably over long stretches of time. (And remember that many white wines can age well, too.)
But most wines aren’t made for long-term aging. I always like to point out that a wine cellar is not a wine hospital. You can’t age a simple wine and have it magically turn into something more desirable with time. Instead, it’ll probably turn into something flat, muddy, boring and unpleasant to drink.
Finally, cellaring a wine with the potential to age is not going to work unless you have the ability to age the bottle under optimal conditions: a consistently cool and humid space without the influence of light or vibration.
So back to the philosophical conundrum in front of us: Properly cellaring an ageworthy wine will add to the life of the wine only if the wine lover likes aged wine. Hope that clears it up!
—Dr. Vinny
