Store Your Vino The Correct Way

January 13th, 2012

If there’s one thing that even the most recent of wine-drinkers can state confidently it is that wine improves with age. The more you keep the bottle in the cellar, the better it will taste when you finally pull the cork and start drinking. Like most rules, it’s one that is sometimes best damaged.

The time period that you should cellar wine will rely essentially on the grape but also on the wine itself, its quality and even its vintage. If that makes things tricky, there are one or two guidelines that you can follow.

Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet sauvignons sometimes cellar very well. A couple of years is usually a good length of time to keep a cabernet sauvignon but superb wines, including those from Coonawarra in Australia, can keep for many years if the vintage is right.

Riesling
Riesling grapes are utilized in some of the longest-kept white wines and can still taste lively decades after bottling. An Australian riesling will develop well over the course of roughly a decade and while they can be drunk straight away should truly be cellared for a minimum of three years.

Chardonnay
Chardonnays often improve for approximately 2 or 3 years after bottling but quality is vital for this white wine. A cheap wine should really be poured immediately while top-end chardonnays are ready for drinking after no more than three years.

Sauvignon Blanc
Sauvignon blanc wines don’t age well. Once you’ve reached the 2 year mark, the wine is perhaps about as good as it will get and that's almost certainly true after five years. The exceptions are 1 or 2 really glorious wines but for the most part, expect to be pouring your sauvignon blanc as soon as you buy it.

Merlot
Like sauvignon blanc, a good rule of thumb is to enjoy your merlot as soon as practicable. That is due to the fact that most merlots are produced in huge numbers and most are reasonably easy, the sort of wine that is unlikely to become more complex over a period. As with other grape types, there are always exceptions though and a great vintage can be better after 5 years and one or two can basement for so long as 25 years.

Pinot Noir
One or two pinot noirs have been seen to age well over decades but it is not something to try at home. Most will be ready for drinking as soon as they are purchased and 1 or 2 might basement well for as much as five years. In general though, pinot noir wines are best drunk earlier instead of later .

This valuable content was offered by Interesting Winesand describes How Long to Cellar Varieties of Wine