Is it true the older the wine the better?

That all wine improves with age is a common myth. “Wine improves with age”. We hear it often, and the saying has weaved its way into common vernacular as we joke about ‘ageing like a fine wine’. So you may be surprised to hear only a small percentage of wine truly does taste better with age.

Why do they say wine gets better with age?

Wine tastes better with age because of a complex chemical reaction occurring among sugars, acids and substances known as phenolic compounds. In time, this chemical reaction can affect the taste of wine in a way that gives it a pleasing flavor. White wine also has natural acidity that helps improve its flavor over time.

What kind of wine gets better with age?

The best aged red wines tend to be Port, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, sangiovese, monastrell, cabernet franc, nebbiolo, malbec, and syrah. Other full-bodied wines with robust structures will also age well, but we zeroed in on these nine as our top choices for the cellar treatment.

Does wine become more valuable with age?

It’s quite true that an older wine is usually more expensive than a younger wine, but you should be aware that this adage only applies to red wines. What happens when time passes and a wine starts to age is that time alters the overall flavor of the fruit in the wine. Time also lowers the wine’s tannin and acidity.

How Old Should red wine be?

When it comes to aging, red wines are quite flexible. Certain types can be aged for just three to five years, while others can remain in a cellar for decades. Additionally, some bottles have already been aged before you even find them in stores.

Can you age any wine?

Reality Check: Most Wines Aren’t Designed to Age In fact, the majority of wine we see in stores today won’t age for very long at all. As a general rule, you can assume that: Everyday red wines have about a 5 year life span. Everyday white and rosé wines have about a 2–3 year life span.

Can all wine be aged?

Why do you not put red wine in the fridge?

As a cork dries out, it begins to shrink and more air will seep into the wine. “As a general rule of thumb, you should never keep wines in the fridge for more than a month because they are not designed for a bottle of wine,” Morey says.