When is chardonnay too old

You may cancel your subscription at anytime by calling Customer Service. Skip to Main Content Skip to Search. News Corp is a global, diversified media and information services company focused on creating and distributing authoritative and engaging content and other products and services. Dow Jones. By Amy Ma. However, his rare single vineyard wines are bottled using a cork since they will age very nicely.

Even a few months of extra aging can make a big difference. We always offer wines with six months or a year more ageing than the current release. The cork closure made all the difference.

The tannins in red wine will slowly smooth out as the wine ages. New world wines tend to be enjoyed younger when compared to wines from Europe, the old world of wine. Red European wines are drier with more tannins than red wines from the new world.

Enjoy drinking your California cabernet sauvignon while letting your Bordeaux age. Cost is also a factor in the aging potential. Note that Spanish wines from the region of Rioja are in a special category of their own as they have already been aged for you. A reserva wine from Rioja is required to have been aged at the winery for at least one year in the barrel and at least two years in the bottle.

By the time the wine is imported into the U. Unlike red winemaking, white wines are not typically fermented with their stems, skins and seeds so the evidence of tannin is usually less prevalent. Burgundian-style Chardonnays, such as Jordan, as well as more full-bodied white wines, enjoy tannins from the use of fine French oak barrels in the winemaking process, creating structure and longevity, which allows it to better age.

The answer to this question depends greatly on the style and quality of the wine. Top Chardonnays from California and France aged in fine oak can be cellared for several years, though most American white wines are consumed within years of their release.

If you plan on aging Chardonnay, be sure to take into consideration that different styles of white wines enjoy different aging potential, and while most white wines do not age as gracefully as their fuller-bodied red counterparts, some white wines do greatly benefit from bottle age.

For example, a bottle of Jordan Russian River Valley Chardonnay is delicious in its youth at years, as well as at full maturity of years old, while unoaked whites, such as Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc, are meant to be consumed shortly after release and do not typically benefit from cellaring.

To start your wine cellar, designate a cool, not-too-damp, not-too-dry area in your home that is out of direct sunlight and stocked with simple wine shelves. When considering where to store your Chardonnay, avoid locations in the kitchen, laundry room or boiler room, where hot temperatures and excessive vibration could negatively affect both white and red wines. Most importantly, find a place where the overall temperature is least likely to fluctuate—the key to successfully preserving white wine is an environment wherein the wine can rest quietly and undisturbed at an even, cool temperature.

The best locations are usually under a bed, on the floor in a coat closet or in a temperature-controlled basement. The ideal environment for storing both white and red wines has a consistent humidity and maintains a temperature of degrees 55 degrees is optimal. While Chardonnay wine is often served chilled, note that the temperature for storing white wine does not need to be as cool as the typical serving temperature.

Probably at a 3 to 1 ratio. There are, of course, exceptions. There are some chardonnay producers that do make their wines for ageability. The other aspect you always have to take into consideration is HOW the chardonnay ages. Or, to put it another way, do you want to taste some of those aged chardonnays, because an aged chardonnay can bear very little resemblance to a young one.

And to a lesser degree, how it was stored and what kind of bottle it was in. As to the Gainey, can't help you out there I don't consider SB to be a wine for aging more than a short term. Don't think, in general, age improves the nature of the variety there. Exceptions occur, of course, and I am talking about the dry versions and not the sweet. On the other hand I had a bottle of SB from Gaillac that was ten years old and brilliant. Exception to the rule. There are geeks, and there are uber-geeks.

I'm surprised though at how categorical are some of the responses here about California just as I was recently about red Burgundies in view of several recent posted positive examples. Mark L, for instance, I assume you're reporting particular experience. Alan Gardner had other data: Alan Gardner wrote: Only 14 years? Those vineyards planted "pre-Davis" have a lot longer aging potential.