Dan Berger's Wine Chronicles: Aged Red Wines Are Still 'Fine'
By Dan Berger
NAPA VALLEY, Calif. — Once a phrase with great meaning, “like fine old wine” now holds little significance for most red wines produced in California. I’m not particularly upset about this change; there are still opportunities to find wines that improve with age, though it may require some serious exploration. As for domestic reds, I may be a Luddite.
In today’s world, where instant gratification is the norm, few people plan to age their wines for decades to enjoy them as they historically have. Is aging red wine even a thing anymore?
Red wine that was properly conceived and stored for decades can be a revelation. But in the modern era many red wines are made for immediate consumption, lacking the construction to remain enjoyable for a decade or two. Cabernet is a prime example, particularly those with lower acidity and higher alcohol levels. Higher alcohol isn’t the sole culprit, but it often brings other issues that compromise aging potential.
This is evident when we taste wines from the 1960s and 1970s, stored perfectly to honor past winemaking regimes. These wines were crafted by winemakers who maximized nature’s contributions. In those glory years, skilled and passionate winemakers such as André Tchelistcheff roamed the vines, discussing tactics every great winemaker in California knew.
One key message from these tutors was the importance of time in winemaking. They knew that if you took the time, the result would be worth the wait — a lesson evident in perfectly matured reds.
A few influential people wrote powerful messages that changed the way red wine was made in California. They evaluated wines based on their youth. This is why many California reds do not improve in the bottle as they once did. Few have criticized these influential writers, but winemakers privately tell me some critics’ opinions are untouchable, often described as “emperor’s new clothes.”
Were these wine critics right? I wondered about their knowledge of California’s red wines. Were their conclusions based on concrete facts or just gut reactions? Their predictions that high-scoring wines would improve seem inaccurate. I’ve tasted many of these wines at age 10. Most are tired; some are deceased.
A good friend is coming to town soon for a series of tastings from his cellar. It’s always a revelation. On one occasion, a winemaker poured his latest exalted cabernet, which had received a perfect score from a reviewer. The wine was 3 years old. Most experienced tasters, age 60 or more with about 40 years of tasting experience, found the 100-point wine loaded with fruit but too soft and pliable. Privately they said it would be exhausted in a decade. No one drank this 100-pointer after one sniff and spit.
A nonagenarian winemaker next to me understood why a reviewer could give this wine a perfect score but whispered that it wasn’t his idea of wine. It resembled a parody of what once was a more restrained, contemplative dinner companion. This 100-pointer was like chatting with a braggart. The wine was made “to get a high score,” one taster suggested. But at what cost if the wine has zero chance of becoming sublime in 20 or 30 years?
The main problem lies with the fact that over the last 30 years or so, some wine critics have made it patently clear that they really love young red wines of softness and oomph. By rewarding instantly tasty reds with high scores, they have inculcated huge numbers of Americans to like the same sort of thing. Balance, delicacy, restraint and personality all are in the intensive care ward, and the shortage of nurses is evident. These character traits no longer are considered essential. Indeed, some people use disparaging terms about these traits that make no sense to me.
Do not, however, think that balanced and structured red wines — wines with aging potential — are no longer available in the United States. They are still being made in places where the climate never allowed for them to make soft, approachable wines, so their local populaces got used to balanced, structured reds and supported such styles because they worked so well at dinner tables. A few examples will suffice.
Recommendations:
Virginia: Jim Law may be America’s greatest unknown winemaker at his Linden Vineyards. Each of his superb wines is structured to display balance and harmony, with alcohols almost always under 14%. Luca Paschina’s remarkable three-and-a-half-decade expertise at Barboursville Vineyards is almost unmatched in terms of remarkable quality. His latest cabernet franc efforts are simply astounding. Shep Rouse’s Rockbridge Vineyards produces more than a dozen wines that have huge local support.
Michigan: Bryan Ulbrich’s phenomenal Left Foot Charley winery in Traverse City produces so many perfectly balanced products (including dramatic ciders) that it’s almost impossible to keep tabs on them. But the remarkable medium-weight red of the rare Blaufränkisch grape is rarely more than 12.5% alcohol and absolutely not to be missed. One of the country’s best red wines is the complex gamay noir from Château Grand Traverse, which also makes more than a dozen other superb wines.
New York: The Empire State’s greatest claim to vinous fame is its dramatic, world-class rieslings, but flying well below the radar are numerous gorgeously structured cabernet francs, which have a long history of developing beautifully in the wine cellar.
Oregon: Pinot noir from Portland-adjacent Willamette Valley has given Oregon its greatest wine headlines, but southern Oregon has several regions in which structured red wines such as the Bordeaux varieties flourish. One special region, Umpqua Valley (near Ashland), has a cool enough climate to make beautifully balanced reds from grapes other than pinot noir, like the cabernets from Pat and Loree Spangler’s Spangler Vineyards, the glorious peppery syrahs from Stephen and Gloria Reustle’s Reustle Prayer Rock, and the fascinating touriga from Abacela.
Routinely sipping red wines that are soft and easily quaffable early in their lives is still a popular way of appreciating wine. However, those who have interests beyond simple fruity wines might well investigate the possibility that better structure and balance in red wines offers greater food compatibility as well as an interesting profile that can only be seen after aging. As such wines sit around for a few years — or are decanted well before consuming them — many reds can become a bit more captivating.
And if you have the patience, putting a couple of bottles away for a progeny’s 21st birthday celebration from his or her birth year is not only a worthy idea but a grand experiment that usually pays dividends. Just make certain that the storage conditions are ideal.
If today’s story captured your interest, explore these related articles:
Wine in Crisis: Navigating Prohibitionist Waves and Market Shifts
Dan Berger's wine chronicles: The evolution of wine in a warming world
Dan Berger's wine country chronicles: The power of pronunciation
Dan Berger's Varietal Views: Delving into riesling's complex profile
Dan Berger has been writing about wine since 1975.
The economy has a lot to do with the prevalence of younger wines. Vintners can no longer afford to cellar wine until its peak release date. It’s two years in the barrel, then bottle, release and collect the $$$. Nor can most consumers afford to buy aged wine or store wine for 10, 20, 30 years. New and (arguably) better equipment has produced drinkable wine at release, cutting the expense of storage and increasing cash flow. I personally witnessed the difference a new destemmer/crusher made to a once complex and ageable Cabernet. It produced a softer, fruitier, more accessible wine upon release. Sales went up with the new, more affordable, drink-it-now wine, and everyone was happy. Except maybe the real aficionados.
Dan
as an old wine guy (getting there?) I hear what you say and generally concur. But... I would argue the issue (age-worthiness of currently made CA red wines is more nuanced. Having bought and aged CA (and other countries' red wines) for our store and also, for example, judging decade old WA Bdx blends , I am to my own surprise, surprised how many 'modern' CA reds have aged well.
As much as I love older wines from the likes of our own mentor/winemakers (Tchelistcheff, Draper, etc) of old, let's face it, the reason so many of those wines needed to age was their lack of full maturity (tannins especially). But I do believe that many of the better modern wines, not necessarily the Screaming Eagles, BDX varieties, top Syrah (blends) and OR PN's will/can and do age well over a decade plus.
As with all wines, it depends who makes the wine, the techniques and the varieties involved. Of course, I would like to see most if not all wines at <14% abv where possible--just makes wines taste brighter and more reflective of their place and variety. But, that will take a lot more work by vignerons to figure out the best means of doing so as global warming wreaks more havoc on our notion of what fine wine means. As always, a thoughtful essay. Joel