subject: Wine Guide: Is It Best To Buy Wine With Age? [print this page] Who doesnt love wine? With different types, tastes, and forms, wine is a celebrated drink that people enjoy for personal drinking or with the company of friends and colleagues. What makes wine popular is the distinct taste and characteristic of each brand and type of wine. The more you delve into the art of wine tasting, the more you want to explore different types of wine.
However, wine can be a bit expensive, especially well-known brands and origins. Vintage wines can also be more expensive with age. For example, a Penfolds Grange will be more expensive after 4 years than 1 year from its production. The question, however, is whether buying wine with age is recommended or not. Will the wine be at its best quality and provide more value to a consumer if it is left and stored to age for a few or more years? Also, is it worth to pay more for an older wine? Lets take a closer look.
Characteristics of Vintage Wines
If youve noticed, some wines can be bought based on year and country/wine region. These are vintage wines wines from grapes grown and produced in a single year. There are certain standards in winemaking to be able to declare a wine as vintage. In the US, for example, 95% of the wines volume should be derived from the harvested grapes from the single year and the remaining percent can come from grapes grown from other years. For New World wines, it is 85%. In South Africa and Chile, 75% is the standard. The taste would still vary based on region of origin and climate.
Compared to wines that are best enjoyed fresh and young, vintage wines are known to taste better given more time to age and with the proper ways of storage. Some wine collectors even invest in cellars and wine racks to store their wines for years, then sell these in the market at a much expensive price later on. Its a whole new trade and investment for some people. For others, it is simply enjoying a well-aged and more delicious wine.
The oldest wine dates back to 350AD. Thats about 1,650 years of storage. It is, however, still sealed and displayed at Pfalz Historical Musuem in Germany. The oldest wine sold is the Ode'Licious Rose Wine. It is 816 years old and was sold at an auction in 1993 for $100M. The taste of this wine has yet to be discovered as the wine is still in storage and rumored to be passed on and sold to another buyer. Last June 2012, Penfolds in Australia has released its vintage wine, the Penfolds 2004 Block 42. It is believed to be the most expensive wine today, selling at $168,000 a bottle.
While experts believe that vintage wine is generally more tasteful with age, they also believe that origin and brand still matter. When buying vintages, rely on the well-recognized names in the Winemarket. They have the distinct expertise in producing good vintage wines from carefully harvested grapes and vines. Always check the labels as well for these will tell you when the wine is at its best quality. Labels tell you the best number of years of aging for that particular wine. Anything less or more than that may not be the best taste for that wine.
Experts also recommended that you buy a good vintage wine that caters to your palate. It doesnt matter how old a vintage wine is if it doesnt meet the quality and taste you are looking for. Buy a vintage wine you prefer, and it will be worth the expensive price tag.
by: Stephen John
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