Buying advice: mature wines
David Dudley-Jones of DudleyJones Fine Wines says: ‘ If property is all about location, location, location, then buying mature wine is surely about provenance, provenance, provenance. One must look at ullage as a marker of how well the wine’s been stored, as lower fill levels [in the bottle neck] and resultant seepage usually point to heat exposure and poor storage. Late-released wines seem to have added prestige, and therefore market value, because there’s an assumption that these have been matured in perfect cellar conditions.’
nearing 30 years and are still full of life. The wines go through a series of peaks and valleys with something to offer all along the way.’
And it’s not only red wine that becomes more alluring with age. Certain whites are sublime in their maturity – Hunter Valley Semillon, Vouvray, whites from Bordeaux, Rioja and Rhône…
However, chief among mature whites is Riesling, which can achieve an elixir-like state. An increasing number of dry Rieslings are offered with bottle age, from Germany and from New World wine regions. The first mature release of Pewsey Vale’s Contours Riesling from Australia’s Eden Valley was the 1995 vintage, in 2000. Winemaker Louisa Rose explains: ‘We always knew how good the wines were with age; we just waited for the right moment. The timing was perfect and the wine received accolades from the minute it was released.’
Rose loves mature Riesling from across the world: ‘Bottle-aged Riesling has all the freshness and life of a young Riesling,’ she says, ‘but with more complexity and richness that makes it a beautiful drink to enjoy with more complex foods.’
The high alcohol and sugar content of fortified and sweet wines, respectively, allows them to age much longer without falling victim to decay. But fine sparkling wines also offer delicious development.
Jean-Hervé Chiquet of Champagne Jacquesson has been releasing late-disgorged Champagnes for a while. The first late-release of his famous numbered non-vintage cuvées was No733 in 2014. ‘Too bad we didn’t think about it earlier,’ he smiles. ‘We wanted to show how a serious Champagne benefits from ageing. It adds layers of complexity. You don’t change the wine’s character; you just make it more complex, and also keep a lot of freshness due to the late disgorgement.’