|
by Joelle Thomson,
wine writer.
Cabernet Sauvignon
Riesling
Pinot Noir
Chardonnay
Sauvignon Blanc
Pinot Gris
Merlot
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
ATTRIBUTES
:
The potential to
last and improve for a very long time. Just how long depends,
like all cellaring prospects, on the quality of the wine. Good
cabernet sauvignon has enormously concentrated tannins, pigments
and flavour compounds that, according to Master of Wine Jancis
Robinson, allow it to out-live almost all other wines.
CELLAR FOR:
Anything from two
years to… the sky is the limit really. If you want to drink
soft, cheerful quaffers that don't break the bank then choose
your favourite cabernets and keep just a couple of years.
Serious hoarders should shop at fine wine stores for cabernet
sauvignon from Bordeaux in France, Coonawarra and Margaret River
in Australia and the Napa Valley in the United States. The best
wines can last for decades. New Zealand is another country that
produces impressive cabernet sauvignons but high quality
cabernet-based reds from here are a recent occurrence, mainly
from Hawke's Bay and the jury is out on how long they can last
for as cellaring prospects.
As a guide, the
Killerby Cabernet Sauvignon
cellars for up to ten years.
REMEMBER:
To check out how
good the vintage was; a mediocre wine is not going to get any
better no matter how long you keep it.
RIESLING
ATTRIBUTES:
The incredible
ability to age for decades and still look and taste as fresh as
a daisy. This rule applies only to the best German rieslings but
Australia's dry rieslings also develop beautifully for at least
up to a decade. The riesling grape produces the longest-lived
white wine. It is a late ripener with a relatively hard wooded
vine, allowing it to thrive in cold conditions, even where frost
is a potential problem. Riesling grown in warm conditions often
lacks the freshness, delicacy and floral/lime/lemon flavours
that it gains from being grown in coolish to cold places.
CELLAR FOR:
Your lifetime, if
you buy the best from Germany. Although these wines can be
austere when young they are still so delicious that many
riesling fanatics drink them young but age improves them out of
sight. Australian riesling is also relatively austere when
young, in an altogether more dry, steely style than its German
cousin, and should be kept for at least three years before
approaching. New Zealand riesling is still developing a national
or even defined regional styles, but you could confidently keep
good riesling from here for two to five years.
REMEMBER:
To ferret out a
good German riesling so that you know how amazing this wine can
be, go to a fine wine store and they will point you in the right
direction.
PINOT NOIR
ATTRIBUTES:
The ability to
irritate wine makers because it is particularly fussy about
where it's grown, how it's trellised, when it's harvested, how
it's made and how long it will keep for once bottled. These and
other finicky qualities make pinot noir one of the most
difficult grapes to tame and produce good wine from. The best
come from the Burgundy region, just south of Champagne in
north-east France. The Californian regions of Oregon and
Carneros are, depending on your point of view and any
allegiances, probably second in line for quality. New Zealand
and, to a lesser extent, Australia also produce some outstanding
pinot noirs although most are made from exceptionally young
grapevines which need to age themselves before wine made from
them can be expected to keep for long periods of time.
CELLAR
FOR:
Just how long the
best pinot noirs or red burgundies will last is tricky to say
but top-notch French versions have been known to evolve
beautifully over several decades. Generally, however, expect to
drink it under 10 years.
REMEMBER:
That most pinot
noir is generally a drink-young wine so unless you have some of
the best burgundies on your hands, do not expect the wines to
improve past about five years.
CHARDONNAY
ATTRIBUTES:
The ability to
produce the world's most outstanding white wine or the
misfortune of being the blandest, most ubiquitous, boring white
around. It rivals riesling for title of best white wine in the
world and, although it ages for a significantly shorter period,
great chardonnay outlasts most other white wines. Chardonnay is
so loved partly because it grows easily in a wide range of
climates and so is planted and produced practically everywhere
that wine is made. Good chardonnay is usually either fermented
and/or aged in oak and often treated to a portion of malolactic
fermentation (the conversion of hard malic acids to softer
lactic ones), so it is more than mere fruit that gives the wine
flavour.
CELLAR FOR:
As long as the
style of wine can take it, which depends entirely on its country
and region of origin and, as a general rule of thumb, the price
of the wine. Most medium priced chardonnays will improve
significantly over two to three years in a good wine cellar.
Lower priced wines should be consumed as soon as possible or
left on the shelf. Beyond that, style ranges from heavily oaked,
big creamy numbers, which usually drink well young, to austere,
clean and crisp chardonnay like the French styles of Corton-Charlemagne
(almondy) Mersault (butter), Puligny-Montrachet steely) and
Chassagne-Montrachet (nutty). Generally the more flavoursome the
wine when young the less time you should age it for.
As a guide, the
Killerby Chardonnay cellars
for up to seven years.
REMEMBER:
To treat different
styles of chardonnay as different styles of wine, since their
ageability varies enormously. Find out more via the retailer you
buy the wine from or the winery.
SAUVIGNON BLANC
ATTRIBUTES:
its intense aromas
are likened to everything from gooseberries, grass and kiwifruit
to passionfruit, melon and even – not always flatteringly –
cat’s pee. Sauvignon blanc is usually easy to recognise by the
smell even before you have taken a sip of the wine. It has
relatively high acids but does not usually age well for much
longer than two to five years, although the very best wines
debunk this theory too. Its spiritual home is in the Loire
Valley, France, whose Sancerres and Pouilly-fumes were the
inspiration for New Zealand, Australian, Californian and now
Chilean sauvignon blanc styles. Unlike most serious aging styles
of wine, sauvignon blanc is a drink-me-now wine.
CELLAR FOR:
not very long,
usually. The best are a different story, with top wines (often
oak aged versions) being able to go for up to 15 years,
according to Jancis Robinson’s Guide to Wine Grapes.
The
Killerby Sauvignon Blanc
cellars for up to three years.
REMEMBER:
Sauvignon
blanc is made to drink rather than keep and most only last for
about five years before embarking on a downhill slide towards
old age. If you think the wine is an exception to this rule
check out its origin, vintage and history of keeping qualities.
PINOT GRIS
ATTRIBUTES:
How pinot gris
tastes depends on where it is made. Its spiritual home of
Alsace, France, is where the best pinot gris come from and they
range from light whites which can be perfect to drink with a
wide range of food to full-bodied dessert wine styles. It is the
relatively neutral, grapey flavour of pinot gris that makes the
best ones so food-friendly. Flavours span light fresh pears
through to ripe, sweet, unctuous apricots and peaches.
CELLAR FOR:
Not very long,
usually. Most pinot gris are like most wine; made to drink soon
after purchase. The pinot gris grape does not appear, to date,
to be one that has the potential for a particularly long life
but exceptions include the best Alsatian pinot gris dessert
wines. For everyday drinking styles of pinot gris, dry or
medium, you could watch them develop in flavour for a year or
two but then consume.
REMEMBER:
That pinot gris is
made to drink so if you buy it by the case or half case then put
it somewhere you will remember to tuck in rather than forget
about it.
MERLOT
ATTRIBUTES:
Merlot is now one
of the most popular red wines in the world but it is definitely
a case of getting what you pay for. The popular perception that
merlot is soft, fruity and simple is true if the wine in
question is made in that style. But merlot is one of the noblest
grapes in the vitis vinifera family of wine grapes and it has
the ability to be every bit as big, powerful and robust as the
staunchest cabernet sauvignons, albeit in a more velvety style.
CELLAR FOR:
No time at all if
the wine is low cost because, generally speaking, these styles
of wine are soft and relatively simple. On the other hand, if
you have a merlot with some oomph and body, find out about the
vintage and base your cellaring intentions on that. Great
vintages can last anything from five to 25 years or more,
depending on your cellaring conditions.
REMEMBER:
To find out
everything you can about the wine if you intend to keep it for
any length of time. Check the quality of the vintage and age of
vines the wine is made from. The latter information is most
pertinent for New World wines rather than those with a good
pedigree of aging from Bordeaux.
|
