Young wine, older wine, a matter of taste?

The wine industry is engaged in a continuous struggle - sorry, campaign to inform you - to convince one and all that wine should be drunk young. From the fuss made around Beaujolais Nouveau (the Beaujolais Nouveau has arrived!) to the exhortations that 'white wine doesn't age' or 'champagne should be drunk young' you would think that wine should be consumed almost the moment it is produced/leaves the cellar. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I am writing this piece because I felt embarrassed about registering little of a red wine we consumed at the restaurant described in my last post, dear reader; such is my aversion to very young wines, especially reds. To put matters straight, it was not a Nemea red, but something new from the Kir-Yanni (Boutaris) stable in the north of Greece called 'Blue Tractor' from the 2017 vintage. The aim here, I think, is to create a popular brand as the grapes (Cabernet Sauvignon 50%, Syrah 30%, Merlot 20%) do not come from specific vineyards, so there is room to increase production as demand rises. The catchy name, the appealing cepage of grapes, the Kir-Yanni name and a label aimed clearly at the Greek market are all strong ingredients in the mix that should deliver strong sales. My apologies for not registering it and more apologies for not being able to supply you with a tasting note, as I found the aromas and flavours too heady and aggressive for my taste and promptly ignored it.

New World wines have created an expectation for startlingly vivid aromas and taste, often aggressively so, and have been credited with attracting a whole new group of people to taste and drink wine. Newcomers to wine tend to find this style of wine reassuring, the strong, simple and obvious flavours acting as a bit of a guide, and these wines in the main tend to be at their best in their youth. After a while, however, it is time for any true wine lover to move on to tasting and drinking more complex and subtle wines, discovering the true depth of the wine world.  For an old hand like me young aggressive whippersnappers, alas,  have little or no allure.

Wine is a living thing which develops every day and starts to show its real character with age - does that remind you of anything? Some wines have a greater capacity for improvement during the ageing process, others reach a point where they improve no longer and are simply old and tired, but there is hardly any wine that will not improve with a year or two in bottle. Yes, even Beaujolais Nouveau...

So why are we constantly told of the benefits of young wine and the perils of ageing? Why are we sold this image of young wine as great?

Any honest wine professional (i.e. who is not trying to sell you something...) will tell you that other than due to personal preference (which, don't forget, may be misguided or perverse) the real reason for this is simple : money. To hold on to a product after you have made it and until it is at its best costs money and, in the case of fine wine, a hell of a lot of money, as plenty of time is needed. This process, dear reader and wine lover, is being passed on to you by selling you the stuff early. Gone are the days when wine merchants, hotels and restaurants had extensive cellar capacity for ageing wines, so that their customers were able to buy them in peak condition and at the right time for drinking.

The wine business went through many difficult years, where property owners and serious wine merchants struggled to make money, as the power lay with the customers. There were many reasons for this including wars, changing fashions and technology, but this changed in the 1980s. As the wine estates' fortunes improved so the accountants moved in, advising on more profitable modes of trade. Grand hotel cellars were liquidated as an inefficient use of money. Wine styles were changed, therefore, for earlier, easier drinking. We, as customers, are now required to create cellars in our own homes if we are to age wines, or drink what's on the shelf. And what is found on the shelf is mostly young, so the industry needs to convince consumers that it's a good thing, the right thing to do.

Taste, taste, taste my friend, and discover what you really like within the price range (very important) that you can afford, and drink that. Personally I would be greatly surprised if you prefer young to slightly older or, like me, very much older, but it's your call.