Dan Berger: Myths about aging red wine

One of the literally dozens of myths about wine is that red wines are better with bottle age.

Indeed, non-wine drinkers commonly praise a vibrant older person by misusing a phrase similar to, "He or she has aged like red wine."

If they only knew how disparaging such a comparison is, they might pick another simile.

A reader asked recently what the rules are in regard to aging of red wines.

The bottom line is, there are few rules that make much sense, and the best advice is not to ask too much of a red wine in terms of aging. It might not be able to deliver.

In general, the older the wine, the less likely it is to be great. Not all reds were meant to be aged. Many were not.

I contend that there are four kinds of red wines:

1. Those wines made to be consumed young, and which don't age well. Example: Beaujolais.

2. Wines made to be consumed young, but which surprisingly age nicely. I like cold-climate Syrahs with more bottle age than they usually get.

3. Those made to be consumed with bottle age, but which do not age well at all. Far too many red wines these days are made with hard tannins, but rather than softening them, aging most of these wines merely reduces their fruit.

4. Wines that are made to be aged and which do develop desirable traits in old age. Among these are most top-quality Italian wines, lower-alcohol Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines such as Bordeaux, and great Burgundies.

What constitutes an "older" red wine is based more on the way it is made and what grapes were used in it, combined with such elements as its acid and pH levels. (In general, the lower the pH of a wine, the longer it can live. I have tasted 30-year-old reds that were still fresh and vibrant.)

Old Barolos and Brunellos can live 30-plus years; many Zinfandels, even those made to age a bit, can taste old and tired five or six years from the vintage.

I truly love Nebbiolo-based Barolo and Barbaresco with 20 or more years of age. But Roero, also made from the Nebbiolo grape, usually lives 10-15 years at best.

Also, the great houses of Bordeaux from great vintages can live (and should) a long time and gain complexity as they do. Many older Petite Sirahs also can age a long time.

However, as alluded to earlier, all of this is dependent on the chemical composition of the wine as well as the temperature of a wine's storage - and a number of other conditions.

The reader also asked whether decanting such wines helps to aerate them. Again, there are few hard rules here.

Because storage conditions can vary greatly depending on where the wine was kept, I usually decant slightly old wine (10-15 years) and am less likely to do so with wines older than that. The reason is that air can kill a fragile wine.

Finally, the reader asked about aging of white wines. Is it advisable?

Sure, with great white Burgundies and a few California Chardonnays, age

older wines

(5-10 years at most) can expand the wine. Moreover, Savennieres and Vouvray, Loire Valley whites made from Chenin Blanc, can age gorgeously.

So can Semillon from Australia's Hunter Valley, many versions of Dry Riesling, many dessert wines, and Sancerres and Pouilly-Fumes, two Sauvignon Blanc-based whites from the eastern Loire region of France.

As for ros? I prefer to drink them on the young side.

Determining which wines to age and which to drink young is pretty much based on the reputation of the producer. And without that as a clue, the best bet is trial and error.

The old saying, "There are no great wines, only great bottles of wine," still holds true.

Years ago, I opened a bottle of a well-known Napa Valley Merlot. It was spoiled by a component that everyone in the room identified. So I went downstairs to the cellar and got another bottle from the same case.

The second one was terrific. To this day, I still can't say how one bottle was so undrinkable and the other never developed that same off odor.

Which is why wine is usually such a mystery.

Dan Berger lives in Sonoma County, where he publishes "Vintage Experiences," a weekly wine newsletter. Write to him at winenut@gmail.com.