Mood:
coolTopic: Bartending
As I've mentioned before, most people think all wine is made for aging. And as I've said before, no it's not. Honestly, there is no exact perfect time to drink any wine since it's all made differently. Some of it has already been aged a bit before it arrives at your home, while others are freshly picked.
A wine that ages well has great balance and structure along with plenty of tannins (which come from grape skin, wood, and seeds) to withstand the time—such as Cabernet Sauvignon. The best way to figure out what year or age you like your Cab is to buy a case of a brand you already know you enjoy. Store it properly—at an angle, bottle nose down, label up. Keep it in a place that has a steady cool temperature and doesn't see much light. Try a bottle each year or so, and you'll figure out what time is doing to the wine.
Within two to three years of the harvest, the wine will have bursting flavors of fresh fruit such as black cherries, plums, or berries. It will probably taste acidic from the tannins.
In the five to eight years after the harvest, the fruit flavors will still be present but not as dominant. The wine will have more complexity and more of a finish than before. The tannins won't appear as strong, although the wine will still have great structure.
Ten to fifteen years after the harvest, the fruit flavors will taste ripe. Earthy flavors such as tobacco or leather will begin to appear. The tannins will have subsided at this point, but the wine will have much structure and layering.
After fifteen years, it's rare for a cab to keep developing although not unheard of. The flavors will be very delicate here.
Often, wine drinkers will run their young wine through a decanter or attempt to pump air into the bottle to create age. Although it does change the flavor of the wine some, aerating never replaces the aging process.
The wines we tasted in class were: the 2006 Amavi Cabernet Sauvignon from Walla Walla Valley, the 2002 Moulin de Duhart from Pauillac France, Sebatiani's 2006 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2006 Catena Cabernet Sauvignon from Argentina, Vinos Los Vascos' 2007 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, R Wines' 2008 Marquis Philips Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2007 Silver Label Cabernet Sauvignon from B.R. Cohn Winery, the 2006 North by Northwest Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, and Groth Vineyards & Winery's 2006 Cabert Sauvignon from Oakville, Napa Valley.
