Wine Components and Aging
(by Joel Mitchel)

A recent tasting of wonderful, but very young white Burgundies started me thinking about aging wines in general and aging white wines in particular. I started thinking about how hard it is to assess the potential of a young wine. Occasionally, when I’m headed for a wine tasting, I’ll hear someone say, sarcastically, “Tough job! Let me know if you need any help.”

Yet wine tasting is hard work, especially when one must make serious and critical value judgments about dozens of wines - whether there is enough or too much wood, tannin or acidity. It is physically and mentally fatiguing to taste through numerous wines, but it is especially so when tasting young wines to determine if they will age into something special.

Many people are confused about the subject of aging wines. Some don’t realize that wines change in the bottle. Some think that wines will last forever or that the best quality wines will continue to improve forever. Some think that only red wines improve with age.

In fact, most white wines are ready to drink upon release. Yet the wines most enthusiasts are interested in (the best Chardonnays, Chablis or Cote D’Or White Burgundies, even the better German wines) are released years before they will be at their peak. They can be enjoyed when young, but they will not have reached their full potential. The consumer is assumed to be knowledgeable enough to understand that these wines need that time in bottle to smooth out, mellow, and evolve into something complex and wonderful.

The previous article, Wine Essences, was devoted to some of the major components or essences of wine. Many of these essences are crucial in determining a wine’s ability to improve with age.

Acid: Critical for a wine’s ability to age well. Age-worthy wines may, in fact, seem too acidic when young, but the acidity will reduce over time and the wine can come into balance as long as the other elements are there and the wine has plenty of fruit. However, a taster must be wary of wines that seem balanced, but in fact have just enough tannic astringency to cover residual sugar. The resulting texture mimics acidity, but the wine won’t age well.

pH is related to acidity, but refers to the balance between acid and basic components in a liquid, not simply the acidity alone. Thus, for example, one can increase acidity, yet keep pH the same if one makes other adjustments.

What does this have to do with tasting young wine? Although high pH wines tend to taste hot despite having acceptable alcohol levels, it’s unfortunately impossible to “taste” pH. Yet, pH is even more important than acid to the balance in a wine and to a wine’s aging potential. A wine with low acid (and thus a high pH) can be artificially acid adjusted, yet still have a pH problem that will cause the wine to collapse down the road. The wine maker can test for pH, but we are not so fortunate. The best we can do is to be aware of the problem and use historical precedent: a few California wineries (see “austerity” below) and most French white Burgundies consistently have plenty of natural acidity and the proper pH to age beautifully. Generally, the coolest climates with long growing seasons yield grapes with the best acid and pH levels.

Alcohol: High alcohol (above 13.8 to 14%), will give a wine a certain hotness and it will taste slightly sweeter. Although not the death knell of a wine, high alcohol is a major concern. It is not intrusive as long as there is a lot of fruit to go with it. In evaluating young wines, we may come across and be impressed with a wine sporting 14.5% alcohol that seems to have enough fruit to age for 6-8 years. If we are wrong, however, the fruit will diminish in a few years, but the alcohol will still be 14.5% and the wine will be out of balance. Moreover, is that initial hotness due to the alcohol or to an artificial boost in the acidity? It’s not easy to tell. High alcohol wines often do not age well. Amarone is an exception.

Oak: A major concern in Chardonnay and becoming so in Sauvignon Blanc. French wine makers say that when the wood is noticeable in the nose, you have lost the wine. Yet Californians routinely make wood-dominated Chardonnays. The result can be a buttery, caramel toasty flavor that many people like. Such a wine has complexity when young, but will it age well?

As Chardonnay wines age and slowly oxidize, they take on a natural fullness that emulates oak. This character can be noted in older French Chablis, most of which never see wood at all. So where does a heavily oaked wine go in 6-8 years? The barrel oak and the “oakiness” from aging can combine to so dominate a wine that its fruit doesn’t show. Another out-of-balance wine that will disappoint down the road! And you think judging young wine is easy!!

Residual Sugar: Sugar may be fine in Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Chenin Blanc, but it is worrisome in Sauvignon Blanc and a danger signal in Chardonnay. Tasters may find a young wine among many that is “easy drinking.” Residual sugar (r.s.) does that. But will such a wine offer much interest when the acidity has been tamed by 3-5 years in the bottle? The answer lies in the amount of acid, pH, and balance the wine has. Most experienced wine lovers agree that a heavily oaked wine with residual sugar will not age well, no matter how appealing it seems. Kendall-Jackson lovers beware! Such wines should be (and, in fact, are) consumed early.

Sugared Chardonnays have other problems as well. The sugar in a wine with r.s. fatigues the palate so our ability to taste is diminished. Even more importantly, sugared wines really don’t pair well with food. Most foods have reasonably high levels of acidity in them and they need good acidity in a wine to synergize. In fact, a wine that may seem a bit acidic by itself often tastes just fine with food. Apéritifs are fine, but wine really is meant to go with food!

Austerity and Harmony: Austere wines rarely win medals or get high ratings. When young, fresh delicate Chardonnays or White Burgundies are served to a group of tasters, the panelists look for interest and complexity. Austere wines do not offer those things. Yet! At a judging, such wines often finish in the middle of the pack. They simply do not stand out. Examples such as Trefethen and Chateau Montelena Chardonnays, Chalone Pinot Blanc, most French Chablis and many Cote D’Or wines come to mind. These wines can be austere and tart when young, particularly when served cold. Yet, with time in the glass to breathe and warm up a bit, the intriguing elements in the wines begin to unveil themselves and their harmony shows through.

It is easier to recognize the high quality of such balanced, delicate and refined wines when they are tasted alone. But such wines get lost when tasted alongside more flamboyant ones. Yet such wines often become the prizes of the cellar years later, when the winners of the same tasting have lost their stuffing. It is the “little” wine, the wine of perfect, but balanced proportions, with good acid and pH, light oak and ample fruit, that ages well.

“So what?” you might say. “I buy a bottle of wine for this weekend, not for 3 years from now.” And that is just the point. No doubt you will enjoy that forward style Chardonnay this weekend. But surely you would enjoy a more classically structured wine even more in 2-3 years. Why not find out!? By the way, this also works with the best (and only the best) Champagnes.

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