[question] Question submitted by Graeme James, Australia When you recommend the aging potential of wine do you assume an ideal cellar temperature of 14-15C? My cellar averages 19C over the year and I have been discounting your recommendations by 70-80% to account for the higher storage temperature. Is this a sensible procedure? [/question] [answer] This is difficult to answer in anything other than a very general sense, because everyone’s cellar is different, especially with regard to temperature change from day to day and season to season. Furthermore, there’s also no denying that this part of wine appreciation is a very inexact science. Corks and other seals may play a very significant role in the longevity of any given bottle of wine. One person’s idea of maturity might also be another person’s idea of infancy. My cellaring estimations are based on the wines I have seen from a variety of cellars, most of which have been very good, over a number of years. When making my estimations, I work on the notion that a wine is at its peak when fully able to express its maximum inherent complexity, and before any significant element of decline is evident. In most cases, I believe that a wine has begun its decline once it loses detectable fruit sweetness and acidity on the palate, which contribute in a major way to the ‘shortening’ of the palate so evident in wines that are past their peak. I also try to be as conservative as I can when making these estimations, since I’d rather encourage people to drink their wines a little too early than too late. I believe that the best thing for individuals such as yourself to do is to find whatever means works best for you. If this is to follow my suggestions, with the ‘discount’ you make to take your own cellaring conditions into account, well and good. People should be aware, however, that regardless of who is making these estimations, they are only an opinion based on (usually) a single taste made at a single time. There are many factors that can emerge in wines over time that may not be evident to even the most sensitive palates in their youth, that might seriously impact (usually negatively) on their cellaring potential. [/answer]
