Which Wines Should I Cellar?

It's great to be able to have a little wine rack at home, with a few bottles for drinking any old Friday night, and then a few special bottles you're hanging onto for a birthday or maybe end of year celebrations. But how do you know which bottles will improve with age, and which ones are better drunk young and fresh?

Here's a few tips.

Most wines will happily live for a year at least--red

Unless you've bought an older wine already, there's no problem hanging onto a bottle for at least a year. Wine is tough, and will slowly change over the course of 12 - 18 months, so don't be afraid to stash a bottle or two.

Whites can age as well--aromatic

Most people fill their cellars with red wine, but whites can age as well. Lean whites (Riesling, Semillon etc) will fill out and take on more texture and roundness, whilst fuller whites will become more honeyed and creamier.

Look for wines with 'lots' of something--racy

A wine that is high in acid or tannin is generally a good bet for ageing. The reason being that both of these act as preservatives for the flavours in the wine and keep the wine fresh as it ages. Wines with residual sugar (eg 'lots' of sweetness) will also age well.

Red wines that are dense--aromatic

Not all reds are built for the long haul, so do look for acidity or tannin as the first marker. The other factor that sometimes helps a wines ageing is the oak treatment - if a wine has a lot of oak, the fruit sometimes needs some time to find its feet and find balance in the wine. These kind of wines are best for ageing for a short while - 3 to 5 years.

Sad but true, but expensive wines--cellar

A lot of wines that are more highly priced are generally built to age. It may only be for 5 or 6 more years, but as a rule, more premium wines will happily last this long and slowly evolve as they do.

About the Author

Alex is a certified sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers and holds her WSET 3 with distinction. Her experience in the wine industry stretches from working as a sommelier in award-winning restaurants in British Columbia, judging national wine competitions, and utilising her background in design and communication toward commissioned art, writing, and branding for wineries and wine bars and columns across the globe.