ask a sommelier
I recently opened a bottle I had been aging for a few years, and although it tasted fine, I was left wondering whether I should have aged it even longer. How do you gauge the perfect drinking window?
— Alden Polanski
Dear Alden,
There is no one-size-fits-all formula for determining a wine’ s“ perfect drinking window,” but here are some things to keep in mind. First, make sure the wine is designed for aging. The vast majority of wines on the market are ready to be enjoyed when they are released to the market, and drink well over the following 6 months to 2 years; wines designed to age longer than that are in the small minority. Second, assuming your bottle is age worthy, look for guidelines referring to your particular bottle. What does the producer recommend?( Check their website.) What do the wine experts recommend?( Ask us!) And what is the general rule for wines of similar ilk?( For example, expensive Barolo can usually age for a decade or two).
When it actually comes to tasting a bottle, pay particular attention to the structure of the wine. The key to age worthiness in red wines is the intensity and quality of mouth-drying tannins; in whites, mouth-watering acidity is really key( but remember that the wine must be of quality in the first instance). As well, the fruit of a young wine, red or white, ought to be vibrant and obvious. If the tannins are still in-your-face and chewy( and the fruit is still strong), then you know the wine could have been aged longer. If the tannins are soft and less pronounced( and the fruit quality shows more dried fruit, or other aromas), these are signs that the wine is closer to the“ window.”
When deciding when to taste, keep your personal priorities in mind. As a wine ages, its fruit will tend to decrease, and the other tastes and aromas will tend to increase. So if you’ re into big and fruity, you might want to question the logic of aging wines in the first place.
Ultimately, we can assess a wine’ s ageability based on structure, acidity, balance, and the track record of previous vintages; but each person’ s preference should also be taken into account. And remember the rule( if you can afford it): always buy at least two or three bottles of something you intend to age to better your chances of catching that vintage at its pinnacle.
— Brooklyn Hurst
Why do fruit flies like Picconero more than Terlan Pinot Grigio? We had fruit flies ALL OVER our red wine last night— but not the white wine!
— Tina Jones
Dear Tina,
There might be several reasons why fruit flies would be more attracted to the Picconero, a beautiful Tuscan Merlot-based wine, than to the Terlan Pinot Grigio, a stylish white from the Alto Adige in Italy.
The relative volatility is one: some aromatic compounds in wine are the same as those in ripe( and overripe) fruit. These include esters and aldehydes that may well be present in higher concentrations in the Picconero than in the Terlan Pinot Grigio. These compounds are highly attractive to insects in general and fruit flies in particular.
Moreover, warmer liquids are more volatile than colder liquids— they release their aromatic compounds at faster rates. You would likely have served your Pinot Grigio colder, which would have made the Picconero a far more attractive place for their favourite activities of eating and laying eggs. It is not pleasant to think that fruit flies are homesteading and having children in our wine, but you asked!
— Gary Hewitt and Sylvia Jansen
How do I choose the right wine to use for cooking?
— Aidan Douglas
Dear Aidan,
Cooking with wine is different than“ cooking wine.” Anything labelled
“ cooking wine” will have salt added as a preservative and contain food colouring. This is not the type of wine to use.
The best wines for cooking are high in acid, but low in tannin and oak, with a good alcohol level. The alcohol helps dissolve fat and is cooked off, leaving just the flavour behind. Dominant flavours in the wine should parallel those in the food. For example, I would use an earthy Pinot Noir with a mushroom dish and a crisp Sauvignon Blanc with a lemon chicken.
Sangiovese is a good red to use for its acidity, especially in tomato sauces; Pinot Noir is good because it is less tannic. Highly tannic wines like Cabernet Sauvignon can leave the finished dish tasting a little harsh. Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadet are good white varieties to cook with because of their high acidity; oaked Chardonnay can be nice in a smoked fish dish, while unoaked Chardonnays are nice in a seafood cream sauce.
Too much wine can overpower the food, too little is a wasted effort and a waste of wine. Final advice: if you wouldn’ t drink the wine, don’ t pour it into your food!
— Karen Nissen
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