Held Too Long

[winecollector]

Correct you are, mrdutton! It all depends on what your expectations and plans are when you purchase a particular wine. For example, when I purchase a wine, I decide at that time if it is a wine I will be opening in the near future, or a wine I am specifically buying to age. The majority of the wine I've purchased from George Dubeouf is early drinking wine, and in my opinion, pretty good wine for the price. I only have one bottle of anything they've made that I consider "ageworthy." If I were to age a wine that is meant to drink young though, it would be an error in judgement on my part. Just the same, if I were to open a wine prematurely that was meant to age, it would also be a waste of a "good" wine.

There was in interesting letter to the editor in the last Wine Spectator, where a guy compared aging a wine to growing vegetables. If your growing a garden, as soon as the tomatoes appear is not the appropiate time to pick them- you want to wait for them to mature. By doing this, you'll be able to enjoy them much more when they ripen, or when they are at peak. Otherwise, if you don't want to wait, you go down to your local grocery store and buy some tomatoes that are supposed to be ready to eat, and have these available until yours are ready to pick. While the grocery store tomatoes may be "good" (so to speak) and enjoyable, nothing beats the taste of a fresh tomato out of your own garden, one that you've been waiting for the appropiate time to enjoy.

By using discernment on what to age and what to drink young, I hopefully won't be as likely to end up with a bunch of rotten tomatoes! That way, I can enjoy good quality wine at anytime, ageworthy or not.

[This message has been edited by winecollector (edited 05-16-2000).]