What to lay down ??

[christopher]

I love rich fruity red wines and wonder what the criteria is for keeping such wines.
Do I need to look for alcohol content ?.
What other parameters affect the storage life of such wines.
What are best conditions for keeping wine.

[Innkeeper]

Hi Christopher, and welcome to the Wine Board. This is from a recent previous post on aging:

<The overwhelming percentage of wine produced in the world is ready to drink upon release, and a lot of it you should. This includes almost all dry whites, and the lighter reds such as Beaujolais. Much of the rest, can be consumed immediately, but will do better if you rack it up for a few years. A small percentage of wines such as Grange Hermitage from Oz, the top Bordeaux Growths, and some of the big bangers from the Upper Rhone, Piedmont, and Tuscany need to be aged for perhaps decades.

How do you know? One way is simply to be familiar with the characteristics of the
wine you are buying via experiance, study, or reference. Price plays a role, but not an ironclad one. I would not think of buying a wine that cost more than $20 that I didn't think would improve with age. Finally, find your own way with a wine or a family of wines. Buy one, drink it, and decide whether or not it will improve with age. Next time you buy one drink it or store it accordingly.>

As far as parameters and conditions are concerned, we will use generalities since grey matter does not convert F temps to C temps too readily. Ideally storage should be undergound (as in a cellar) as temperatures and humidity are easier to control there. If this is not possible, use the bottom of the most central closet in your abode. Temperatures should range from ten degrees above freezing to five or ten below normal winter inside temps. Humidity should be on the damp side. This is great for wine, but bad for labels. A well aged Brunello in proper conditions will rarely be wearing its label. That is why those little dohickers that people hang on bottle necks are useful.

Be sure that aging or even just resting bottles are on their sides. This goes for in stores too. Beware of upright bottles in wine emporiums. This is because corks dry out quickly. That lets too much air in and oxidation occurs. Alcohol content alone does not tell you a lot about aging potential. It will tell you if the wine is full bodied which is one charateristic. It should be above 12.5%. Equally important are the levels and both tannin and acid in the wine. Hope all this helps.



[This message has been edited by Innkeeper (edited 04-16-2001).]

[christopher]

Many thanks Inkeeper