To age or not to age?

Obviously the title of this post refers to ageing wine.

Over the past month, I have gone through about half of my wine collection. Mainly because a lot of what I opened was past its prime. There were nights when I would open three bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon from the Napa Valley just to find one that was drinkable. It was very disappointing to learn that so many of these wines—which I was told would improve with age when I purchased them—did not live up to my expectations.

But it wasn’t all disappointing. The 2006 Crocker &Starr St. Helena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (purchased in 2009; $90/bottle) was incredible and well-worth the wait! A sexy stunner with loads of blackberry, black currant, mocha, and black licorice. The palate was silky smooth with well-integrated tannins. I recently tasted the 2008 vintage of this wine, which I probably will enjoy a year from now—if I can wait that long!

The 2007 Lava Vine Pritchard Hill [St. Helena] Cabernet Sauvignon ($110/bottle) was good. But when I purchased this wine in 2010, I recall it being full-bodied with firm tannins and gobs of dark fruit. After two years in the cellar, the tannins had broken down considerably and it negatively impacted the mouthfeel of the wine. It had a medium weight with a short finish and predominant spice notes. It was drinkable, but I prefer how this wine tasted two years ago.

Other wines that I wish I had opened sooner include the 2005 Volker Eisele Vineyards “Terzetto” and the 2004 Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon. I recall these wines as fruit-forward and balanced upon release, but when opened recently, they expressed non-fruit savory flavors of black olive, dried herbs, and earth.

I opened three bottles of the 2006 Ghost Block last month and each bottle was particularly underwhelming. But the current vintage is delicious and lush, which tells me it’s just not a good candidate for cellaring. I sold this wine at Napa Wine Company in 2009 and we assured our customers that the Ghost Block would improve with 3-5 years of age. I thought this sales pitch about ageing potential referred to the release date (which, for the 2006 vintage was May 2009); I realize now that it would have been more accurate to tell people to enjoy this wine within 2 years of the release date or 3-5 years from the vintage date. How confusing!

It would be unfair to say that it’s not worth it to age expensive wines [because I’ve had some great experiences with older wines, like the 1998 Honig Cab, the 2001 ZD Cab], but I have a new stance on the practice. If you like a wine when you taste it, don’t worry about whether it could improve with ageing. If you like it as is, drink it within 1-2 years! (That’s my plan.)

I think our culture places too much value on the “if” and “when” aspect of cellaring wine, and overlooks the fact that if we really like the wine upon release, then it makes sense that perhaps we won’t enjoy the wine anymore three years later. In fact, we could very well not like the wine after three years. And thus, the downside of ageing—pouring those once-beautiful $65+ wines down the drain.

If you are sitting on bottles of 2004, 2005, 2006, or 2007 Napa Cab, I would suggest opening them soon. And let me know what you think. Do you agree that these Napa Valley vintages are now ready to drink?

Main Street Wine Bar...coming soon!

Over a month ago, I was hired as a freelance marketing consultant and social media manager at a little wine shop in Tiburon [Marin County, Ca]. They also needed someone to work in the shop two days a week, so you can find me there, mulling over the many Italian wines and posting images of their labels to Facebook, on Sundays and Mondays.

The previous owner had traveled all over Italy and trained as a sommelier at A16 in San Francisco; she called the shop, Prima Palate, and sold only Italian wines.

When Nancy Larson purchased the shop earlier this year (including all of the wine inventory), she decided to diversify and re-brand. The name of the shop is changing to Main Street Wine Bar and Bottle Shop; the new signs should be up next week! We're still hammering out the design of the new website, but in the mean time, please follow on Facebook and Twitter.

Other improvements include adding more seating, outdoor heat lamps, an espresso machine, and new wines. The selection is still predominantly Italian, but we’re making room for more California and French producers. And in the mean time, it has provided me with the opportunity to taste many new wines.

The Magnificat Pinot Nero ($18/bottle) is a terrific Spumante Brut from the Lombardia region. It’s light and lean with a whisper of pear and orange creamsicle on the palate as well as faint yeasty notes. Finishes clean with lingering flavors of tropical fruit.

I am also a big fan of the Ca’Vittoria Brut Rosé ($17/bottle). It’s made with Prosecco grapes and a small amount of Raboso, a native red Veneto varietal that contributes both color and aroma. Bone-dry but very full in the mouth, this sparkler shows good, lively acidity and a broad sweep of strawberry and citrus fruit.

We carry the 2011 Enkidu Chardonnay, Tin Cross Vineyard, which I blogged about after attending the Family Winemakers of Californiaevent. It’s $30/bottle with good acidity, pleasant fruit components, and no malolactic fermentation [my style of Chardonnay!]. As is the 2011 Foxen Chardonnay, Bien Nacido Vineyard from Santa Barbara ($34/bottle). As the owner/winemaker of Foxen told me, this wine is “Burgundian in style with California sunshine blended in.” Delicious!

The 2010 Winzerkeller Andau Blaufrankisch is an Austrian red that is quite tasty ($17/bottle). This elegant, juicy wine offers impressions of lavender, tobacco, pepper, plum, red cherry, cedar, toffee, and cassis. It’s similar to Sonoma Pinot Noir in weight.

I’ve also enjoyed a few of the Italian reds. The 2011 Alois Lageder Kalterersee Shiava from Alto Adige ($23/bottle) has the weight of a Chardonnay and similar food-pairing flexibility (pastas, risotto, chicken). It’s matured in large Slovenion oak casks but not for more than a few months. Transparent in the glass, it is light-bodied and fresh. Aromas of red currant, cherry, and violets are complemented by attractive nuances of red fruit and a slightly spicy finish.

The 2009 Pietradolce Archineri from Etna Rosso (Sicily; $26/bottle) is available by the glass right now. It’s complex but balanced; the perfume of this wine smells like sweet blackberry, plum, tar and spice. The palate delivers a wonderful harmony of bright raspberry and Bing cherry flavors, dried herbs, violet, and acidity.

I am also excited about the wines we carry from Fisher Vineyards (Napa) and the wines delivered this week—including Saintsbury Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and the Chappellet 2010 Cervantes Mountain Cuvee (red blend). 

The shop is open every day with special Happy Hour pricing on Fridays and Saturdays from 4-7 pm and on Sunday from 3-5 pm. Come say hello and stay for a glass of vino!