On 8/21/2008 1:18 AM, Jim Oakley wrote:
> On Sun, 10 Aug 2008 15:20:40 GMT, Jim > wrote:
[snipped]
> From the 30SecWineAdvisor
> (a free wine lover's page by Robin Garr)
> http://www.wineloverspage.com/index.phtml
>
>
> • Most wines don't age. This point is simple but often overlooked.
> Probably 99 percent of all the wines made in the world, including
> virtually all inexpensive wines, are never better than when they are
> first bottled. Only a tiny fraction are made to age, and an even
> smaller number require aging.

I've got to say that I disagree strongly with this advice. I can't
count the number of times I've visited a small Virginia winery for a
tasting of their very best, found it all to be marginal (I prefer reds,
and VA reds are typically horrible), and bought a couple bottles that I
thought might age well and parked them in the wine cellar (read: the
room in the basement I've dedicated to brewing wine, mead, and beer) for
a few years. I typically take a completely uninformed (as in, I'm no
sommelier or wine expert) guess and write the year I think they'll be
more approachable on the label. Say, 2-3 years or so. In almost every
case I've been happy to have purchased the bottle once it has a few more
years of age.

My sample size is fairly small, but all of the wines would fall into the
"inexpensive wines" category, even if the small winery puts a price on
the bottle which it can not represent.


Cheers,
Ken Taborek