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How old do you like your grand red wines?

 
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How old do you like your grand red wines? - 7/29/2008 12:39:27 PM   
Maestro

 

Posts: 563
Joined: 10/4/2007
Status: online 		A typical Grand Red Wine from Bordeaux, Piedmont, Burgundy, Tuscany, or California will usually go through a phase in which drinking it is infanticide, and then reach a long drinking window.

For example, a Noble Red from a vintage such as 1997 migh have a drinking window ranging from 2003 to 2018.

But a drinking window spanning 15+ years (as top wines may have) basically means that you can choose to drink it early in the window, when it is still fairly tannic, lively, and high-spirited; or later on, when it is more civilized, smooth, and subtle.

Are you more attracted to the former (still fairly tannic, lively, and high-spirited) or the latter (more civilized, smooth, and subtle)?
Post #: 1
RE: How old do you like your grand red wines? - 7/29/2008 12:44:22 PM   
pbm

 

Posts: 348
Joined: 3/5/2008
From: New Hope, Pennsylvania
Status: offline 		Civilized, smooth, and subtle -- everything I yearn to be but alas have not (yet) achieved.

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PBM
"Never Sell Principle Short"
Dave O'Neal

(in reply to Maestro)
Post #: 2
RE: How old do you like your grand red wines? - 7/29/2008 5:38:21 PM   
Wrighty

 

Posts: 768
Joined: 10/3/2005
From: Hong Kong
Status: offline 		From when it starts to show it has potential to become civilized, smooth and subtle but still has some vigour of youth; out of its 'teens' and into its 'twenties', but the allure of a mature, civilized, smooth and subtle bottle is still the big prize.

(in reply to Maestro)
Post #: 3
RE: How old do you like your grand red wines? - 7/29/2008 6:14:19 PM   
flyfysher

 

Posts: 8
Joined: 7/6/2008
Status: offline 		I was fortunate and got to taste the 2005 Ch. Magdelaine and Ch. Petrus when I was in France in 2006.  The Magdelaine was very good but the Petrus just blew me away.  Then again, I think it was in 2005 I drank a 1989 Magdelaine and it was incredible.  If I had the money, the wine and the cellar then I would definitely hold onto my wine and wait it out.  It is terribly unfortunate the modern trend is to drink wines young without giving them the opportunity to evolve.  However, I trust the pendulum will eventually swing back the other way.

< Message edited by flyfysher -- 7/29/2008 6:15:46 PM >

(in reply to Maestro)
Post #: 4
RE: How old do you like your grand red wines? - 7/29/2008 8:00:45 PM   
cgrimes

 

Posts: 906
Joined: 10/8/2007
From: Massachusetts
Status: offline 		I have been fortunate to taste a handful of older (meaning 20+ yrs) and really find them to my liking.  I have not been collecting long enough to have real experience in this department, and the number of older wines I can purchase outright is very limited.  Where I really feel limited is my ability to try some of my grand wines in their infancy to get an idea of how they will evolve.  I simply cannot afford to buy this type of wine by the case so I have to get it right in 1, 2, maybe 3 shots.  I will definitely wait 15-20 yrs before drinking them.
Craig

(in reply to flyfysher)
Post #: 5
RE: How old do you like your grand red wines? - 7/30/2008 12:22:27 AM   
pjaines

 

Posts: 925
Joined: 5/26/2008
From: London
Status: offline 		In France there are some people who say you should drink some of the wine on its way up, some in its peak and some in its decline to understand a wine's true life span. 

I try and leave my Bordeaux at least 5 years before tasting it and then taking a position of it from there.    For more serious end Bordeaux I would leave it 10 years.  Even with the simpler Bordeaux waiting 3-4 years really lets the wine settle and open up.

There is something wonderfully rewarding about aged wine.

I was looking at some tasting notes on cellartracker last night for a 2002 top top top St Emilion (I wont reveal the wine to save the reviewer) who drank it in 2007 and said it was disappointing but it "may" have some potential.  It just seems that there is a lot of infantide going on with some great wines. 

I have to admit I am glad my wine is out of my reach otherwise I am sure I would have comitted a lot more.



< Message edited by pjaines -- 7/30/2008 12:49:04 AM >

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(in reply to cgrimes)
Post #: 6
RE: How old do you like your grand red wines? - 7/30/2008 2:43:38 AM   
NiklasW

 

Posts: 509
Joined: 10/13/2007
From: Finland
Status: online 		Just last night I had a chance to taste a civilized, smooth, and subtle wine: 1971 Haut-Brion. Yep, I like 'em that way!  It was quite humbling to taste something that was born the same year I was. Will I have such in my own cellar?? Only time will tell.

(in reply to pjaines)
Post #: 7
RE: How old do you like your grand red wines? - 7/30/2008 3:48:57 AM   
Paul S

 

Posts: 504
Joined: 1/15/2008
From: Singapore
Status: offline 		If only we all can afford to drink grand old wines at grand old prices.

(in reply to NiklasW)
Post #: 8
RE: How old do you like your grand red wines? - 7/30/2008 9:22:43 AM   
RoundersRob

 

Posts: 750
Joined: 7/1/2006
From: Santa Cruz, CA
Status: online 		I like to mix it up a little.  I don't mind popping a good bordeaux with only a few years on it just to see what it is like when it is young.  Hopefully it gives me a good indication of what it will be like in the future.  Ideally I like to have more then one bottle of that wine so that I might some day be able to make that comparison.

Having said that, there really is something great about a perfectly aged mature Bordeaux.

(in reply to Paul S)
Post #: 9
RE: How old do you like your grand red wines? - 7/30/2008 12:30:42 PM   
Blue Shorts

 

Posts: 318
Joined: 2/5/2008
From: Santa Cruz, California
Status: online 		I prefer mature wines.  Unfortunately, I just don't have the patience to wait or the money to buy old.

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The best wine is the one that you haven't yet tried.

(in reply to RoundersRob)
Post #: 10
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