A Wine that Appreciates with Youth

You do not have to like old wines better than young wines.  There, I said it.  Drink up!

One of the most ingrained wine truths is that old wines are better.  Age does incredible things to wine, refining and changing the flavors in an ethereal process that happens uncontrollably at a minute pace.  For this, older bottles appreciate and become valuable investments or keepsakes.  There is an auction market that gathers the wealthy and obsessed and wrings them of dollars that could otherwise be well spent.  Alongside of this is a general understanding of wine that accumulates with the drinkers' age as many people do not have the income or interest in fine wine until they have the resources later on in life.  Therefore, many old wines enjoyed are not relics of patience, but are instead purchases that attach a premium to allow for the experience.

But aside from the money and the investment involved in aged wine, there is the juice itself.  Nothing evolves quite like a French Bordeaux.  There is really no track record that supports any other wine to match the heritage or recognition that an old bottle of Cabernet or Merlot from France can achieve.  Sure, there may be more singular and unique wines in the world (see: Romanee Conti) or wines that do not provide so much satisfaction for the first few decades (see: Vintage Port), but let us take Bordeaux as a standard and basic example.

Firstly, it is interesting to note, while searching through Wine Spectator's reviews of legendary vintages (1945, 1959, 1961, 1982, 1986) there is only one 100-point wine (1961 Latour).  These wines are up around 1000% from their original release prices.  That being said, there are many, many 100-pointers from the 2005 vintage (nine!).  All things equal, does this mean that these wines right now are better than their older counterparts?

Sure, this stat is easy to throw out with the development of modern winemaking techniques, the change in reviewers over the years, the increasing access to information, and the fact that this is one source that many will say rewards more a certain type of wine while failing to appreciate another.  Still, there is something to say about the dynamically different reaction to these young wines than those of the ages.

Wine can be considered in three aromatic stages: primary, secondary, and tertiary.  The primary characteristics of a wine refer to the basic varietal aspects of a grape, i.e. Nebbiolo usually reveals flavors of red fruit and violets.  Secondary aspects of a wine are revealed through fermentation, barrel aging, and bottling.  These are seen as the winemaker's hand in the flavor and are what is represented when the bottles leave the warehouse.  Tertiary flavours are those imparted by aging gracefully throughout the years.  These tertiary aromas and tastes are what people are paying the top dollar for.

Mostly, it is worth it.  Only if I were so lucky to be experiencing aged wines with an endless finish that transcends description.  However, these tertiary flavours do not necessarily satisfy everyone, wine enthusiast or not, to the same degree.  If an incredibly delicious and complex wine is astounding in its youth, it will not necessarily communicate the same nuances for all the years to come.  Sure, it allows for good odds to evolve wonderfully, but it does not mean that it will taste better to you as it expresses itself.

Again, this conversation is not arguing that younger wines are better than older wines or vis-a-versa, but more so that you can determine by your experiences and taste buds which wines you adore and what stage they are at when you do so.  With the generosity of some friends, I have tried some aged Hermitage.  This is a small Northern Rhone appelation known for making the best and most expensive Syrah.  Although these wines carried with them the aged complexity and nuiance that one would expect from this caliber of wine, I did not like them.  There is a cured meat, manure smell that is an incredible expression of grape juice, but the off-putting notes left me wishing for more of the black and blue fruit of this wine's youth.

When somebody told me they went to a dinner and did not like the 1986 Haut Brion they tried among other great younger wines, I was initially (and snobbishly) jealous and disappointed that that glass was not used instead on someone who would have understood it.  But before even thinking, I replied that it there is nothing saying you have to like old wine better than the young stuff.  Looking back, I'm glad that he had that glass, because it is probably a revelatory experience for this gentleman.  That, in itself, is worth every drop from that bottle.

My addage stands that there is something to appreciate about any wine, and then you have to decide whether or not you like it.  Aged wine is a great thing, and can often be the best of things.  But there is nothing saying that you have to think it is better than a young wine.  Except, of course, of all of those auction markets, cellars, reviews, articles, and mystique...