Carpe Wine: The art of aging wine

One of the most common misconceptions about wine is that it always improves with age. In reality, most wines are ready to drink within two years — when their fresh, vibrant flavors are at their best. That said, there are some grape varieties known for their age-ability and do get better with more years in the bottle. But, playing the waiting game can be both fun and disheartening. Trust me, I’ve been both blown away and totally bummed when opening older bottles of wine.

What makes one wine better than another when it comes to aging?  

I’ll never forget the moment that question became very real. It was an unlikely place and time. Among the bittersweet tasks of tending to my grandmother’s house after we lost her, I found myself in charge of cleaning out the bar area which, honestly, was very on-brand for me. When I discovered a bottle of 1975 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon tucked away in the back of a dark cabinet, I was giddy. I know it was not the appropriate time to be uberly excited, but I was jumping up and down and silently screaming cheers of jubilation. Yes, jubilation, because there isn’t a better way to describe it.

Being a cabernet sauvignon, I knew the wine had the aging potential — and the storage conditions made a strong case for being an amazing bottle. It had likely spent the last 20 years lying on its side in a dark cabinet, virtually undisturbed. Both details matter.

UV rays that nourish a vineyard become the enemy once wine is bottled, degrading flavors over time — which is why serious collectors keep wine in darkened cellars away from light. And storing a bottle horizontally keeps the liquid in contact with the cork, preventing it from drying out and letting air in, which would ruin the wine entirely. My Mimi was not a serious collector, or much of a wine drinker — she preferred scotch — hence the reason the wine bottle was at the back of the cabinet, tossed in there as more of an afterthought. But still, it was there just for me to discover at that moment. It was her way of reminding me to celebrate, after all, she had an amazing life.

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What gives wine the ability to age?

Back to the initial question — what gives wine the ability to age? It comes down to three key components: acidity, tannins and residual sugar — each working in concert with one another.

Acidity acts as a natural preservative, keeping a wine’s primary fruit flavors fresh and vibrant over time. As a wine ages, the acidity will drop and the wine will flatten out. A wine that starts with a higher acidity level has a better chance of aging well.

Tannins come from grape seeds, skins, and stems, with softer tannins leaching in from oak barrels during the winemaking process. Because red wines are fermented with their skins, they naturally carry more tannins ——the darker the skin, the more pigmentation and tannin extracted during winemaking.

This is why big red wines like cabernet sauvignon, syrah, tannat, malbec, merlot and petit verdot are such strong candidates for aging: they bring both high tannins and medium to high acidity to the bottle. That “balance” of the two is perfect for aging.

Residual sugar really only plays a part in aging sweet wines like sauternes and riesling as well as fortified wines such as port, sherry and Maderia. The residual sugar acts as a preservative and the naturally high acidity from the grapes provide the structure for the wines to stand the test of time. The higher alcohol levels in the fortified wines also play a part in giving them the ability to age for decades.

Can white wines age?

It’s true that red wines are better known for their ability to age but some white wines can.

• Riesling naturally has high acidity and can have higher levels of residual sugar, helping it to age for years.
• Champagne has higher acidity and sits on the lees during the second fermentation in the bottle — what gives it its bubbles and the brioche flavors — which adds to its complexity and ageability.
• Orange wines are white wines that have had skin contact — the same process of making red wines — which means tannins, albeit lower than red wines, are extracted from the skins during the maceration process.

Back to that bottle of 1975 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon…

To my shock and hidden jubilation, no one in the family seemed to care about trying the wine with me. That night I excitedly uncorked the wine and poured a little into the glass, revealing a burnt, rust-colored wine. The color alone said this bottle was old.

As a red wine ages, its color begins to fade. Over time, its shades can go from dark purple/violet to ruby to garnet to brown.

I swirled the wine in one of the beautiful, antique crystal wine glasses I had yet to pack, gave it a big sniff, paused, and sniffed a little deeper. Something didn’t smell right, but it was a super old bottle of wine that was just waking up, so I gave it the benefit of the doubt. It just needed a little time. One more swirl and I slowly raised the glass to my lips. A sip later that jubilation turned into utter defeat. The wine was bad … very bad.

The bottle had all the components of aging well. What went wrong?

My conclusion: my grandparents were not big wine drinkers. They stored their wine as an afterthought, which could have been genius had it not been left at room temperature in a humid house in Beaumont, Texas for 20+ years.

I mentioned earlier that how a wine is stored plays a role in its ability to age — avoiding light, laying the bottle on its side and not moving it around. But temperature might just be the most important element, and the biggest enemy of wine.

If it’s stored too cold or too hot, your wine will know the difference. When storing your wine for a long period of time, you don’t want to just use the counter or the regular fridge. You want to make sure to store your wines at the optimal temperature, generally 50–59 degrees Fahrenheit.

Too cold of an environment can freeze the wine – below 25 degrees Fahrenheit – and too hot of a space can make it age faster – above 68 degrees Fahrenheit. This was my situation… It’s also important to consider humidity levels, which was not an issue in Beaumont, TX. But it’s important to note here in the Vail Valley that if it’s too dry, the cork may dry out, leaving your wines open to premature aging, all the more reason to make sure it is stored on its side. Optimal humidity levels for storing wines at home are 60–70 percent.

At the end of the day, you can age your wine as long as you’d like, but my advice — don’t wait too long to enjoy it. Life is short. Drink it while you can … in pretty crystal wine glasses.

Elaine Schoch is an award-winning travel writer and wine judge, certified by the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) Level 3, and a certified American Wine Expert. She is also the editor at Carpe Travel, a content site focused on wine travel. You can follow her wine 101 and sipping adventures on Carpe Travel or Instagram.