Larry > wrote:
> Last question. Would a wine like this(I seem to pick a lot of young
> shirzes) "mellow" very much in say 2-3 years or would this be the
> basic character of the wine no matter how long you cellar it?

The tannin taste will definitely disappear as the wine matures. Indeed,
the trick of tasting a young red wine is to try to figure out how the
wine's taste will evolve as it matures. The basic question is whether
there is enough fruit behind the tannins that will remain once the tannins
drop out. With a good wine, as it ages the tannins dissipate, the fruit
becomes more dominant, and the wine flavours become more complex. With a
bad wine, the tannins dissipate, the lack of fruit become more obvious, and
you're left with bland, uninteresting, watery red liquid.