MICHAEL FRIDJHON: The art of ageing well
Only certain varieties have what it takes to acquire complexity with age
Few wine enthusiasts ever get to drink fully mature wines. This is partly because most wines produced in the 21st century were never intended to age. They were made with ready drinkability in mind. As ever more consumers opt for youthful, juicy reds with tannins made precociously soft by global warming (and cellar strategies like micro-oxygenation), the availability of the more classically styled wines declines even further.
As a result, there is often a mixed reaction when a properly aged bottle comes to the table. It’s not uncommon for people to wrinkle their noses; the more charitable among them simply describe such wines as “flat” or “dull” or even “off”. Few people attempt to keep wines for any length of time. A well-known steakhouse proprietor told me that his customers consider anything beyond five years “over the hill”...
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