How to Know the Ageing Potential of a Wine?

Some wines can be kept for several years, sometimes even decades, in the cellar and they will improve with time. Wine is a living substance that continues to evolve after bottling and new aromas develop during cellaring. A wine is said to be at its peak when it has reached its ideal age. The so called peak is the best time to drink the wine and enjoy the complexity of its aromas. This ideal age is of course specific to each wine, depending on its characteristics. Not all wines improve with time and some are best enjoyed when young. With age, wines with a good consistency evolve and their aromas change.

With time, acidity, powerful tannins (for red wines), and alcohol content will melt into perfect harmony: a silky and balanced texture, ripe or dried fruit aromas, sometimes jammy, while other so-called "tertiary" aromas appear, bringing delicacy and depth to the wine - which becomes more complex (aromas of undergrowth, truffle or leather for red wines; aromas of dried fruits, honey and dried flowers for white wines). The colour of the wines will also change with age, the colour of a red wine will change from ruby red to more like garnet/tawny colours. For white wines, the wine will tend towards amber/brown colours.

Not all wines can be aged in the same way! While some wines are said to be "good for ageing" and can be forgotten until they reach maturity after several years in your cellar, others are far from improving with time. For some wines we are therefore meant to wait for more than five years: this is especially the case for tannic red wines which oxidise less quickly, but also for sweet and luscious wines such as Sauternes or VDNs (Vins Doux Naturels, natural sweet wines) as the sweetness acts as a preservative and increases the ageing ability. Some white wines with high acidity or if they are vinified in barrels can also age well. Most of the other reds, rosés and light whites are best to drink within one to five years to keep all their freshness and fruity aromas.

• Acidity: high acidity is necessary at the beginning, it will balance out with time.
• Tannins: strong tannins will soften with time. If the wine has light tannins from the start, it will become "flat" and lack structure as it ages. The tannins also act as a natural antioxidant protecting the wine. Wines with little tannin are therefore generally wines to be drunk young.
• Aromas: the wine must have powerful and diversified aromas so that they gain in complexity with time.
• The influence of the oak barrel: a period of maturation in new oak barrels brings toasted bread and vanilla-like aromas to the wine. This increases its aromatic complexity and also softens the wine's tannins through light contact with oxygen.
• The influence of the grape variety: some grape varieties are known to produce wines with strong tannins and high acidity. This is for example the case of Cabernet Sauvignon and Nebbiolo.
• Other influencing factors: the vintage, the terroir, the winemaking techniques and the storage conditions of the wine.

• Bordeaux wines: for Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur the drinking potential is between one and three years, but there are some examples than can age a little longer. Médoc, Pomerol and Saint-Émilion, for example can be kept 15 years, when the ageing potential of the Grands Crus of these appellations can reach more than 30 years. The general white Bordeaux wines should be drunk within two years to enjoy their fruity taste. There are of course exceptions, some dry whites can be kept for more than 10 years.
• Burgundy wines: the ageing potential for Burgundy reds is six to eight years. Only the Grands Crus of Côte d'Or can be aged for more than 20 years. The general white Burgundies are more sensitive than reds, which is why they should be drunk young, around two years of ageing. Of course the best examples of the Grands Crus white wines, like Le Montrachet or Le Corton Charlemagne can easily age for more than 15 years.
• Rhône Valley wines: Hermitage, Cornas, Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Côte Rôtie. Year after year these wines improve, the minimum storage period being five years. Be careful not to go much beyond 20 years, as you risk losing their aromas.
• Loire Valley wines: most of them are meant to be drunk young. The best examples of Chinon can age up to 10 years. Some white wines, especially made of Chenin, can age very well do to the high acidity and aromatic qualities of the grape. Savennières are ready to drink after five years and some vintages have an ageing potential for more than 20 years. The sweet wines like Quartz de Chaume can also age very well.
• Languedoc wines: most of the wines produced in Languedoc are meant to be drunk in the first couple years of age. Some of the red wines have an interesting tannic structure which makes them suitable for prolonged ageing, for example Collioure, Corbières and Minervois - they can age up to 10 years. Also the VDNs like Maury and Banyuls can age more than 30 years.
• Alsace wines: the best examples of Grands Crus white wines can age more than 10 years.

The ideal time to enjoy a wine is when the aromas and flavours are at their peak. Estimating the best time to drink a wine is not an exact science, simply because each wine has different properties and is a living, evolving product. The vintage is an essential indicator for determining an ageing range. Each year, there are rating cards that note the quality of the new vintage for each region. Great years are generally years of great ageing.

The main advantage of keeping a cellar book is that it allows you to choose a wine at its peak and to be informed at any time of exactly what you have in your cellar, thus saving time. Indeed, it is not always easy to remember precisely which bottles were consumed or purchased a few years ago. In practice, the cellar book can be kept in the form of a simple alphabetical notebook or a more sophisticated computerised example, depending on the size of your cellar and your own objectives. The most important information that can appear in a cellar book: name of the wine, appellation, colour, vintage, date of purchase, quantities of bottles purchased, tasting comments, etc.

Remember this golden rule: it is better to open one bottle of wine too early than several bottles too late!

The optimum period during which the wine will be at its best when tasted. A wine at its peak is a wine that has reached its maximum quality.

After the peak comes the decline. Said of a wine that is lacking in fruit aromas and has a rough, somewhat raspy sensation caused by a strong excess of tannins.

A wine is young when it has not yet developed all its qualities to reach maturity and is showing only primary aromas, like fresh fruits.

Transformation undergone by the grape when it becomes enriched with sugar and loses some of its acidity to reach maturity.

A wine is mature when it reaches the peak of its evolution.

An estimate of how long the wine can be kept until it reaches maturity.

A wine for ageing is a wine with sufficient structure to be kept in the cellar until it reaches its peak.