The thing about old vintages, is that the perfect condition of the at 40 yrs of age can never be guaranteed. Many things happen to a bottle in its lifetime – it might have suffered from heat damage or poor storage, the cork might have failed, or purely that particular bottle was just not capable of the long-haul for an unknown reason. Recently, I was fortunate to be invited to share two amazing vintage wines – Chateau Musar 1982, and Brunello di Montalcino 1979 Poggio Salvi which were both in perfect condition. When this happens it´s really worth celebrating. celebration! Below are some tips on enjoying vintage wines.
Read my full article here with tasting notes about these two wines
Old vintage wines can be like a box of chocolates, you might not get exactly what you were expecting!
In order to enjoy these types of aged beauties to the fullest, there are a number of important steps that I will outline below as there are always doubts about aeration and decanting of wine.
1. Let the bottle stand upright in your cellar overnight to gather the sediment to the bottom of the bottle
Vintage wines intended for long-term storage should always be stored in cool dark temperature controlled conditions and alway horizontal. Storing them horizontal means that the cork will remain in contact with the wine and prevent the cork from drying out which can damage the wine. Old vintage wines drop a lot of sediment in the bottle – this is quite normal as the fruit evolves and the tannins soften. You will generally start to see this happening in wines older than 6 – 7 years old and it is a normal part of the ageing process. If you take the bottle and stand it upright overnight, this will help to gather the sediment at the bottom of the bottle prior to decanting. Note this is why red wine bottles have a punt indentation (basically the indented hole in the base of a bottle) where the sediment can collect
2. Do NOT open the bottle until you are ready to enjoy it
This may feel counter-intuitive as everyone talks about aeration of red wines. But a 40 year old wine is generally expected to be already full mature. Aeration helps a young wine show more expression, and it allows highly tannic wines to become more expressive and relax part of their tannic grip. However, with old vintage wines, they don´t need any more aeration. In fact once opened, they can change by the minute so they need careful monitoring if you don´t want to miss their final curtain call.
3. Carefully extract the cork using a two-prong cork puller
The corks in vintage wines can be extremely fragile, and previously some wineries actually offer a re-corking service for vintage wines. This practice has become less common as fears of wine fraud have continued to increase. In general a cork can be prone to failure after 15 – 20 years, therefore if you are handling a wine which is now over 40 years old you have to be extra careful. The best way to remove the cork is using a two-prong cork puller rather than a cork-screw as you are much more likely to be able to extract the cork in one piece. Two-prong wine pullers can be purchased from Vinmonopolet.
4. Select a suitable decanter for your wine
Use a good quality decanter which is suitable for one bottle. If the decanter is too big it will be more difficult to handle with one hand whilst you pour from the bottle with the other. In addition if the decanter is too big, it may allow too much air into the wine. Zalto Axium Single bottle decanter is a good choice and is easy to handle with one hand.
5. Gently decant the wine using good lighting
Carefully decant the wine off the sediment by gently pouring keeping the bottle gently tipped and never more than horizontal so the sediment remains in the bottom of the bottle. When you start to see some fine sediment starting to come out of the bottle, stop pouring. Make sure you are decanting with good lighting behind the bottle so you can clearly see movement of the sediment.
6. Use high quality glassware
A vintage wine deserves to be enjoyed from a top quality wine glass. Both Riedel and Zalto have excellent wine glasses. Gently pour a tasting sample into your chosen wine glass.
7. What to look for in your glass of vintage wine
An vintage wine of 30 – 40 years old will most likely have lost some of its colour. The aromas will most likely be focussed around tertiary aromas which means that these aromas have evolved from the fruit (and possibly oak) and most likely display dried fruits, possibly some dried flowers, forest floor, earth, savoury mushroom, truffles, tobacco, cedar, spices, nuts, cocoa and more. This is very different from the young and fresh fruity expression we find in young wines.
8. What should your vintage wine taste like
When you taste the wine, look for balance. If the wine is still good, it should still have some concentration of fruit aromas with the above tertiary aromas taking the overhand. Look for balance – the wine should still have a good level of acidity, aromatic quality, tannin structure and length. The wines personality will of course vary depending on the grape varieties used, the origin of the wine (terroir) and the actual age of the wine. The fruity may feel a little dusty, but it should always be in balance with no off-aromas.
9. Thoughts on airing and enjoying these wines
Don’t move the wine around unless you really think it needs some more air. These wines are best tasted and re-tasted for changes every 30 mins, or preferably enjoyed over a long dinner where you have several glasses of a range of wines and you can go back and forward and re-taste and enjoy.
10. The grand finale!
Remember, these old wines are fragile and when they have contact with air, they can start to degrade quite rapidly. Keep an eye out for changes whilst tasting as you don’t want to miss their final curtain call.
Note: This article offers some guidance towards handling of aged red wines around 30 – 40 years old. Wines such as Port or Madeira have a very different ageing capability and expression and the handling of these type of wines will be quite different
