HOW TO KNOW IF A WINE WILL AGE WELL
The LCBO will release 45 cases of an outstanding Ontario wine on March 18 through Vintages.
This wine is sold out at the winery, is well-priced, and last year, earned the “best in show” award with 97 points at one of the world’s most rigorous wine competitions — the Decanter World Wine Awards in London, England. This critic tasted it on March 2, and it’s gorgeous.
It’s the
2019 Flat Rock Cellars Nadja’s Vineyard Riesling VQA Twenty Mile Bench
(Vintages $36.95). Star bright, this off-dry thriller whistles with the scent of lime and then streams in with flashes of euphoria. Allusions of apricot jam, a squirt of lime, flint, steel and olive pit emerge and recede before tapering toward a long sea salt and white pepper finish. With wonderful balance between succulence and cool minerality, it’s an exciting wine. Drinking window: 2023-2045. Score: 97
This Riesling is drinking well now but will reward patience if properly cellared. To drive that point home and celebrate the best in show award, Flat Rock hosted a vertical tasting of 20 consecutive vintages of Nadja’s Vineyard Riesling pulled from its cellar — from 2003 to 2022 — this month in Toronto. Every one of those now sold-out vintages is still drinking well. In fact, the 2003 and 2004 — the first two vintages from that Nadja’s single hectare vineyard — were among the best in the flight.
Which brings us to the point of this column.
How to know if a wine will age
Gauging how long a wine will age depends on your ability to detect the fruit concentration, tannin (for red wine), acidity and alcohol; assess the balance of these four elements; then speculate how long it will be before the wine falls out of balance. Over time, fruit concentration and tannin diminish, while acidity and alcohol remain constant. When the alcohol shows through and is no longer a pleasure to drink, a wine is off-balance and thus past its best.
Fruit concentration is perceived mid-palate as flavour intensity. Tannins are felt around the gums as a drying sensation, much like the texture of drinking strong black tea. Acidity is detected as sourness best felt on the sides of the tongue, making you salivate. And alcohol is felt as heat at the back of the palate, particularly after swallowing. It does takes practice to really gauge how long a wine will keep. You must taste a lot of wine and become familiar with these components and how they evolve.
Collectors often buy a case or more of ageworthy wine to cellar. Then, they assess the wine’s evolution over years, bottle by bottle, as it gains complexity and evolves structurally.
Certain grape varieties keep better than others and thus age more gracefully over a longer time. Riesling is one of them, as seen with the Nadja’s Vineyard. The relatively low alcohol of that variety and high acidity support the process. Some reds that notoriously age well include Cabernet Sauvignon, Nebbiolo (the grape of Barolo and Barbaresco) and Pinot Noir. But price is a factor, too.
A good rule of thumb is, if a wine retails for less than about $40, it’s likely bottled ready to drink and will not improve with age — Flat Rock Nadja’s Vineyard Riesling is of course an exception. Wines above about $40 point are usually made with better quality grapes grown in better conditions — both of which push the price up. With quality comes aging potential if the wine style supports it. Classed Growth Bordeaux, Premier and Grand Cru Burgundy and many Barolos are notoriously expensive and cellarworthy styles. So are top quality Riesling, Chardonnay and Champagne as well as icewine, Sauternes, Vintage Port and Tokay Aszu — to name a handful.
Truth is, the vast majority of wine is bottled ready to drink and is in a slow decline from that point on.
Which is fine since that’s how most of us drink most of our wine — we purchase a bottle and then drink it straight away.
If you do choose to age a wine built to last, it should be stored in a cool, dark place with sufficient humidity and minimal vibration. The specifics of ideal cellaring though is a whole other column.
To try laying down a few bottles yourself, try to snap up some of that 2019 Flat Rock Cellars Nadja's Vineyard Riesling, and here are few more bottles you can buy now and drink later.
2021 J. Moreau & Fils Gloire de Chablis Chablis, Burgundy, France ($31.95)
Barely there aromas lead to a dry, brisk attack as the wine steams in with tingling acidity and a silky mouthfeel. More vinous than fruity, flavours nod toward grapefruit, lemon and orange with a cool stony undertow that turns saline on the finish. That minerality should come into focus after a year or two. It’s a wine for drinking now or short term cellaring. Drinking window: 2023-2026. Score: 90
2018 Stags’ Leap Petite Sirah, Napa Valley, California (Vintages $60.95) This very young giant is drinking well now but oodles of lush fruit cloak its muscular 14.4 per cent alcohol frame. Each sip cascades with dark berries — blackberry and blueberry mostly — laced with grilled red meat, baking spices and a crank of savory black peppercorn. Drinking window: 20232035. Score: 93
2019 Rodney Strong Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma Valley, California (Vintages $35.95) Swirl for aromas of cassis and smoked meat that echo on the palate along with a touch of wild blueberry and roasted coffee bean. While not built for long-term aging, it can be laid down for a few more years to gain complexity and nuance. Drinking window: 20232028. Score: 89
CAROLYN EVANS HAMMOND IS A TORONTO-BASED WINE WRITER AND A FREELANCE CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST FOR THE STAR. WINERIES OCCASIONALLY SPONSOR SEGMENTS ON HER YOUTUBE SERIES YET THEY HAVE
NO ROLE IN THE SELECTION OF THE WINES
SHE CHOOSES TO REVIEW OR HER OPINIONS
OF THOSE WINES. ALL PRICES ARE SUBJECT
TO CHANGE. REACH HER VIA EMAIL: CAROLYN@CAROLYNEVANSHAMMOND.COM