How to Tell if a Wine Will Age

Some people buy wine with the hopes of aging it and getting something better two or ten or twenty years down the road. It's risky business trying to find wines that age well, having the proper conditions to store them, and knowing when to open the prized bottle. Here we'll try to figure out how to tell if a particular wine will age.

Looking to age some wines? Don't store them like this.

The Numbers

Some look at the technical data for a wine: acids, pH, residual sugar and alcohol level (yawn). That's not for most of us and still no guarantee as it doesn't tell the whole story.

The Particular Wine

The varietal, vineyard and winemaker can give you some idea. Of course, this means you have to already be familiar with them. The conventional wisdom for the varietal is Cabernet ages the longest and whites don't age, but this is a generalization and not always true. You can age some Chardonnays and some Cabs are best consumed young. You can always write the winery and ask their recommendation for aging one of their wines. Any estimates you get are based on good cellaring conditions.

The Wine's Structure

You can taste a young wine and get some idea. It's what you call structure. I'm not quite sure how to explain structure well, but I can taste it. There's a balance between acid, tannins, fruit, body, and any other elements you can pick up. There has to be enough acids and tannins. No one element overshadow the others; all are present.

The Overnight Test

Another way is to quickly age a wine overnight to see how an open bottle tastes the second day. To do this pour a glass the first day and consider all of the elements. Maybe it's fairly tannic, maybe very fruity. Put the cork or screw cap back. Whatever the characteristics remember them for the second day when you pour another glass and see if the wine is just as good or maybe better. If this is what you find then you can assume the wine will age.

There's More to It

We still haven't talked about how to store wines for aging, how long to age a wine, or even thought about if you'll actually like aged wines better than young ones. Some previous blog posts on aging wine:

Should you age your wine?
Your wine collection