Wine Aging

Wine ageing is the process of a wine maturing over a certain time, during which it develops a more complex, deeper bouquet, softens its flavour, and attains harmony. Not every wine needs ageing — many varieties are made to be drunk young and fresh — but for great wines it is precisely ageing that reveals their true potential.

Two main stages are distinguished. Ageing in barrels (most often oak) takes place before bottling: the wood gives the wine tannins and aromas of vanilla, spices, and toasted bread, while the microscopic access of air through the pores of the wood gently “rounds” its flavour. Ageing in the bottle is a slow maturing without access to oxygen, during which the tannins gradually soften and the aromas evolve from the primary fruity ones to complex, “tertiary” ones — earthy, leathery, mushroomy, dried fruit. A wine's capacity for long ageing depends on its structure — the content of tannins, acidity, sugar — so only wines of proper quality are worth ageing. Correct ageing requires calm, darkness, a steady cool temperature, and humidity. It is the magic of time that turns a good wine into an outstanding one.