The ageing of wine is a much debated topic – a complex topic because of the mixture of scientific fact and subjective opinion infused into the issue. As such, it could be safe to argue that there is strictly no right answer to the question “how long should I cellar this wine for?” as subjectivity infers that everyone’s opinion will be different and what is right for one will not necessarily be right for another.

Ideal Conditions
One issue that does need to be clarified, however, is that if cellar ageing a wine in order to enjoy it as a quality wine in later years is a priority for the wine consumer, then cellaring conditions should be optimal. Wine should be seen as a living thing and if it is treated well it will repay a pleasant dividend in the future.

The ideal location, is not particularly important. We would all like to have an underground cellar with perfect cellaring conditions, with the atmosphere to go with it, but that is usually not possible. What we need to maximize though, whether our cellar is under-ground, under-stairs, under-floorboards, or under-the-bed, are the conditions in those locations.

Temperature

High temperatures accelerate the development of wine, and the fluctuation of temperature, particularly over a wide range of temperatures within a short period of time (say a day), is the worst of all. As the temperature goes up and down, so does the volume of the wine as it expands and contracts, which puts pressure on the cork, potentially causing leakage. Wine will quickly lose its freshness, and it will age too quickly. The wine will never gain the complexity and elegance that it should.

Humidity
A cellar environment needs to be neither too dry nor too humid. Dryness will encourage the corks in bottles to dry out, lose their elasticity, encouraging leakage of wine from the cork. If conditions are too damp on the other hand, fungal growth can occur under capsules and on labels which can become unsightly.

Ventilation and odour
Cellaring conditions should be free from bad odour and good ventilation should prevent this. Otherwise it is possible for odours to build up and be absorbed into the cork and hence the wine.

Darkness and vibration
Wine is sensitive to light and may become photo-oxidised through too much exposure, which is why wine manufacturers use coloured glass to filter out the ultra-violet rays. It is important to keep cellared wine away from such light, even if it has to be kept in its original packaging, and vibration and constant movement will not provide ideal ageing conditions, disturbing the ageing processes within the bottles.

Attitude
Wine should usually be stored lying on its side - if sealed with corks, this is vital although sparkling wines can be stored standing up because their corks are impermeable to air. However screw-capped wines can be stored standing up because they have an air-tight seal and there is no transference of oxygen through the seal. Care must be taken however, to ensure that the bottles are not stored where they can be knocked, as sharp impact to the bottle caps can affect their air-tight efficiency.

The Concept of Ageing
Wine is a unique product in that it is generally desirable to age it after it has been bottled but there is little point in doing so if a wine doesn’t have appropriate characteristics in the first place. Good fruit flavours and aromas are essential, good acid levels are also required to provide freshness on the palate and longevity in the bottle, and adequate tannin levels for red wine. And overall, a young wine must have good balance to start with. A badly balanced young wine will probably develop into a badly balanced old wine.

Why age wine?
Simply, wine becomes more complex when aged properly. Chemical reactions occur within the bottle (and barrel) which affect colour, aroma, flavour and texture. White wines gain colour (become darker) whilst reds lose (their vibrant youthful) colour, becoming browner.
Primary fruit flavours become less pronounced and are gradually transformed into their developed forms – for example, citrus-floral riesling aroma gradually becomes buttered toast-like, but there is often still some youthful aromas present within the wine.

Screw-capped wines tend to slow this secondary development phase down, as the supply of oxygen to the wine is much less. Screw-capped wines retain their youthfulness better than cork-sealed wines, and of course there is no chance of encountering cork taint with screw-capped wines.

Youthful acids and tannins (in red wines) soften with age, and tend to integrate better into the wine than they did when young. Youthful exuberance and brashness become more subtle and elegant with age. It is when there is still plenty of youthful fruitiness combined with bottle-aged secondary characters that complexity is at its peak.

Personal preference
Many wine lovers prefer drinking wines at this stage but not everyone does and this is where subjectivity comes into play. Many wine drinkers prefer to drink wine before it starts to develop secondary characters. They enjoy wine for its fruitiness, not its complexity.

This is part of the wonderful character of wine, that it can be so many things to so many people. A bottle of wine will evolve over time to become something quite different – different aromas and flavours will emerge from each and every bottle as we continue to enjoy each and every glassful, in cautious and responsible moderation, of course!