On Sep 3, 12:51*pm, "Paul E. Lehmann" > wrote:
> mail box wrote:
> > 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),
>
> I hope you don't stereotype ALL Virginia wines on
> the perhaps limited amount you have tasted.
> There ARE some good wines made in Virginia.
> Hiddencroft Winery just opened. Try them or Sugar
> Loaf Winery. *
>
> It really bothers me when people condemn an entire
> area or state based on limited sampling. *The one
> thing that I think is true of many of the
> Virginia reds is that they are WAY to much OVER
> OAKED. *A lot of them taste like licking a cigar
> box. *One winery even takes great pride in saying
> they buy NEW barrels every year.
>
> I live just across the river from Lovettsville,
> Virginia in the small town of Brunswick,
> Maryland. *Maryland is expanding in their wine
> production but there are some in the state
> capitol who are influenced heavily by the liquor
> lobby and distributors and are pretty much
> anti-wine. *At least Virginia supports the wine
> industry in their state.
>
>
>
> > 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- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
This has been an interesting thread and I appreciate all the comments.
Just to add my 2 liters worth here, I haven't tried the wines from
Virginia but have heard some nice things. As for the winery that gets
new barrels every year, I don't understand why. First of all the
expense would be considerable and there is a lot of aging left in a
wine barrel. If I am not mistaken, you should be able to use a barrel
for 5 years. Then I would hope they re-sell it to the home winemaker,
like me who is glad to get a bit more oak out of it. A new barrel each
year would greatly over oak the wine I would think.
As for aging in the bottle, I can only say, it depends. It depends on
the wine, storage, and what one might expect from the wine. Homemade
wines seem to do well aging in the bottle and my Barbera seems to have
benefited considerably from another year. The blend I made this year,
alicante and grenache, by concensus, won't greatly benefit from aging,
so I will drink it now. Wines that I purchase from wineries and from
the PA state store rarely age beyond a week from purchase because I
buy it to drink now.
Salute!
Orlando