Wine aging is mostly the interaction between three of wine’s components, sulfites, tannins and acid and the fruit in the grape itself. Sulfites are a naturally occurring compound, that nature uses to prevent microbial growth, that are found on grapes. Sulfites are essentially a preservative, they allow wine to age without it turning sour or developing a vinegar taste. Tannins are a natural compound found in grape skins, seeds and stems. Lastly, grapes have natural acidity levels that promote their survival and growth. In general, for wine to properly age, it needs to have the right levels of sulfites and tannins in it plus enough acid. A wine without the right mix of these components will turn into vinegar as time passes.

Winemakers have some control over the presence of tannins, sulfites and acid in wine. Winemakers can use specific juice extraction techniques by gently, or aggressively, squeezing their grapes and thus releasing less, or more, grape skin and tannins. Winemakers dating back to the Greeks and Romans have been using or adding sulfites to their wine barrels and wine to enable it to last longer and age. Lastly, the varying climates of wine growing regions impact the natural acids in grapes, further, some winemakers can and do add acids to wine. Given the foregoing, it is impossible to make specific rules about how long any given wine will age.

There are, however, some general rules of thumb regarding wine aging:

• Wine must have a fairly high level of tannins to age at all.
• Wine must have acidity to keep it fresh tasting.
• Fruit is what makes wine taste good
• The fuller a wine is in all 3 of these components, the longer it will age.

In general, most of the tannins in red wines come from the grapes’ skins and seeds and from being aged in wood barrels (usually oak). In contrast to red wines, white wines tend to obtain more of their tannins from the barrel aging process. When it comes to aging, grape tannins are better than oak barrels, thus, grapes like cabernet sauvignon, which have thicker skins, tend to have better aging potential than white grapes.

Use your wine cooler, wine refrigerator, wine cellar or wine chiller, to keep your wine at 55 degrees Fahrenheit, or 13 degrees Celsius, which is the most ideal temperature for aging it. Wine ages much more quickly at 68 degrees to 78 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees to 25 degrees Celsius), which are the average temperatures of a typical household. Keep your wines at a level 55 degrees Fahrenheit and they will age slowly and perfectly.

Paradoxically, the most important way to tell if your wine is ready to drink, is to open and taste a bottle. Opinions can and do vary on appropriate wine aging and taste, thus your own individual taste should dictate. This seeming paradox is one of the best reasons to buy wine by the case, or buy multiple bottles of the same wine.

Published 7/18/2009 12:00:00 AM

Tags: Wine Aging, Temperature