Drink or hold?

Depending on what survey data you believe, American wine consumers drink all but between 2-4% of the wine they purchase within 48 hours of said purchase. So with as little as 2% of wine at stake, why write about wine storage? For me, it is that 2% that can really be the best wine; consumed at the optimal time and in the best of conditions.

So let me start my case for wine storage with a few basic ideas to ponder. First, not all wines are worthy of storage. I base my comment of worthiness not on some snobby notion, but the fact of the wine itself. Many wines like Beaujolais and Sancerre are generally crafted as wines that are ready to be consumed at the time of purchase. They way these wines, and many others for that matter, are produced, make it so aging or cellaring is not only not necessary, but may cause the wine to be listless and lacking in the flavors and aromas that make the wines what they are. So my first suggestion is if you want the experience of aging a wine pick a wine that will be worthy of being aged. A few examples are Spanish Rioja, Italian Barolo and California Cabernet. This is a intentionally abbreviated list, so if you are not sure if the wine you are buying will “hold” you can ask the purveyor, if they seem knowledgeable, or better yet, drop me a line!

Now that you have found a gem to cellar, what comes next? The simple answer is have a storage plan. To that I mean a place those bottles of wine can rest mostly without being distributed for a period of time. Traditional wine storage needs to have three characteristics, cool, damp and dark. I am always struck by pictures I see of huge wine cellars with dinning tables and the like in them. A cellar is a place with poor lighting, average temperature in the mid to upper 50’s and humidity approaching 70% and full of cobwebs. Not the place I want to consume a three hour meal.

If you want to hold your wines, think of cool, damp and dark. The wine chillers or mini cellar units are a great investment if you love wine and want to buy some bottles to hold. Two pieces of advice here, buy one that is bigger than you think you need and use it for the intended purpose only! Why bigger you ask? The smaller versions hold less than 4 cases and while that sounds like a lot, if you catch “collectors fever” that won’t take long to be insufficient. As to the purpose, think of your storage as a sleeping infant; the fewer times you open the door, or turn on the lights the better chance you won’t disrupt the meaningful slumber!

So the next logical question should be when do I drink the wine? This is where I say have some fun with your storage. If you decide to buy three bottles to hold and by reading the winemakers notes, or contacting me (hint, hint) that the optimal drinking time is between 2016 – 2020. The span of time already suggests that the way the wine is stored will effect when it hits its peak. That aside, what I suggest is try a bottle on the front side of the time range, one in the middle and one towards the end. Hopefully you will have three different and wonderful experiences with this wine.

Are there pitfalls in storing wine? Unfortunately the answer is yes. A few things you need to know before you start are key factors to storing wine. First and for me, most importantly is the provenance of your purchase or in plain English, how was your wine handled before you purchased it? My emphatic advice is only buy from wine dealers or wine shops. Online auction services and resellers sound like great places to get wine until it shows up damaged and non refundable. I had that personal experience, so you don’t have to repeat my mistake.

Secondly, sometimes, and in spite of all best efforts, the wine is bad. This can be caused by adverse handling in transit, cellar storage issues at the winery or a thousand other reasons. It is rare, but I had a friend who had two rotted corks on the same older Bordeaux. I have included a photo of one of the corks for your viewing pleasure. It is the tough part of waiting and then being disappointed that makes holding wine heartbreaking.

My last advice, is it is better a little too early than a little too late. I have been with people who are beaming to open their “prized” bottle, only to have it be flabby, lacking fruit and slightly oxidized. You can’t fix these issues in any way. If on the other hand, the tannins are still tight and the fruit in “slumber” a decanter can really help to coax out the brilliance of the bottle. The term slumber refers to a long held winemakers belief that wines will “shut down” just before they start to peak; a calm before the storm if you will.

If you choose to start collecting let me offer you three pieces of advice. First, be patient with what you buy. Do not let a 10+ year hold preclude you from buying a special wine. Second, be organized in what you buy. If you have the desire and the wallet to buy some cellar worthy wines, don’t let them get “lost” in your cellar. The fact is wine does not have just one peak day, but if you miss the total peak period, a wine in full decline is one of life’s greatest disappointments. My final piece of advice is make any day a special day! Through the ages, wine has been a celebratory beverage. Not just champagne, but all wines have those special qualities of marking an occasion. So what I am saying is if you have several special bottles that are ready to drink, celebrating that it is Friday and drinking a great wine is better than holding the wine too long waiting for a monumental occasion. Sharing a great bottle of wine makes it a monumental occasion for me.

Collecting wine and drinking that wine at an optimal time is a wonderful experiment. It tends to be a great mix of science and art. Cellaring conditions and trying to pick the perfect day are not as daunting as you might think. If you work within the ranges and are comfortable that you may never hit it perfectly, then I welcome you to the world of wine aging. Just remember that close enough can be amazing!