Shiraz 2003

[plonk]

Hello,

... my next question: I bought a bottle of Shiraz (Lindemans 2003) today. Shall this be stored for a year or two... or is it ok to drink it right away? A wine from last year seems to be pretty young.

Or generally speaking: which wine will improve with age - and which one won't? Probably a tough question [img]http://wines.com/ubb2/confused.gif[/img]

[Kcwhippet]

Well, they make at least four Shiraz that I know of, but it's certainly OK to drink that wine now. You can age it for another few months, but it's probably not necessary. Don't forget, wines from the Southern Hemisphere are already six months older than wines from here.

[lipwig]

There is never any way of telling how long a wine should be held to drink it at its best. As a general rule though, shiraz are better drank when still somewhat young (1-3, maybe 5 years). Shiraz generally lack a tannin structure that is conducive to longer cellaring. Quite a few Australian shiraz are blended with cabernet, and if this is the case with yours it may cellar better.

Karen MacNeil, author of The Wine Bible (a must have for, well, any wine lover) makes no guarantees but proposes these guidelines:

'With a very expensive, high-quality cabernet sauvignon, merlot, nebbiolo or other wine that is highly sturctured and full of fruit when young... wait at least 5 years'
'Reds that are better than average but not extremely pricey may need three years or so before reaching their full expression.'
'Moderately priced everyday reds are generally in good drinking shape as soon as they are released.'

I would also only hold wine for an extended period of time if I had a place where the temperature was constant and appropriate for the storage of that type of wine.

In the end, it's really up to you but hopefully this helps you a little.

Lipwig

[Innkeeper]

That's good advice. Another authority, Andrea Immer, author of a half dozen good tomes (all in my library), says: "95% of all wine in the world is approachable on release." So, just worry about the other 5%. This holds true even when you get real serious about wine. Of the ten cases I maintain, three are in the "aging" process. That does not mean 30% though. Those three cases age out over ten years, and the other seven cases turn over four or five times per year. You do the math, but I think that comes pretty close to the 95% mark.

[plonk]

Thank you - so I probably don't have too much to worry about. But it's always good to know a few rules.

lipwig: this advice it very useful for me - and I've got a friend who has even less knowledge about wine than myself (but somehow he thinks I'm a wine expert, just because I read the labels and try to understand [img]http://wines.com/ubb2/rolleyes.gif[/img] ) ... He often gets wine as a gift and asks me if he should store or drink it. So at least I can tell him something - thanks.

BTW - I wasn't 100% correct. The bottle I bought was a "Shiraz Cabernet 2003 - Premier Selection" (Lindemans). Does the "Premier Selection" really has a meaning or is it just for advertising?

[This message has been edited by plonk (edited 03-12-2004).]