Which wines?
Why, and how long?
I'm quite often asked how long a particular wine will last, or whether a certain wine should be drunk or put down. (It can be a happy, positive thing to "put down" a wine, unlike a pet.)
The questions raise all sorts of issues that wine consumers and professionals often confront, and I'll discuss a few of them here. I'd like to get your reactions.
I can think of only two reasons to put wine away, rather than drink it immediately. The first is when you have a wine that's not ready to drink because it's not ready -- that is, it's not yet as the winemaker intended it to be.
Wines meant for keeping (vins de garde) are generally unbalanced when they're made, usually because the tannins are too aggressive. Over time -- which might be two years or 10 years, depending on the wine -- the tannins soften, the fruit and acid integrate, and you end up with a wine where all the components are in equilibrium and harmony.
But the vast majority of wines are made for early drinking, which means as soon as they hit the shelves. This is the case with almost all the wines in the LCBO (on the general list).
You can cellar many of them for two, three or five years, but they won't improve with time; they'll be the same in three years as they are today. In fact, if they change at all, it will be to deteriorate, so there's nothing to be gained, but something to be lost, by cellaring them.
You might hang onto wines like these when you fall in love with a particular wine and you know it's not going to be available -- and that's the second reason to put wines away.
You might find a real bargain in a Vintages release, like Chateau Pesquie "Les Terrasses" 2004 that's in the
May 12 release. At $14.95 it's a beautiful big red, and I could see buying a load of them to drink now and again during summer with barbecued steak or lamb chops.
That's not "cellaring" in the strict sense. It's not keeping them so they improve, just storing or hoarding to make sure you have the wine after it's out of stock.
Most wine is bought to consume right away. I keep hearing that 85 or 90 or 95 per cent (it depends who's telling me) of the wine bought from the LCBO is consumed within three, four or six hours of purchase. And why not? If you don't mind visiting the LCBO whenever you want a bottle of wine, there's no need to keep a stack of bottles at home.
It's often said that this is a new phenomenon, as if everyone used to have a cellar. If anything (this is just an impression), I think there are more private cellars around today. Sales of wine cabinets -- whether they hold 50 or 250 bottles -- are brisk, and so are sales of customized wine rooms.
Historically, the great bulk of wine has been made for early drinking, and I'm not sure a lot has changed in that respect. It is enjoyable to have a cellar and to open a wine to see how it's developed, but it's also very enjoyable to drink many of the great wines made for drinking while they're young.