wine: Buying and storing a wine to keep for 10 years

...you were always on my mind (

free_me07) wrote in

wine,
@ 2008-04-19 11:32:00

Buying and storing a wine to keep for 10 years
This is a big spring/summer for me - I'm done with school after 7 years of post-high school education, I'm turning 25, and I'll soon be truly independent for the first time. I'm planning on writing myself a little letter with some thought/goals, etc. and getting a bottle of wine that I can keep for 10 years, so that when I turn 35, I can enjoy the wine and look back at something I wrote at 25, reminisce, laugh at how naive I was, enjoy some (hopefully great!) wine, etc. :)

The best thing to do is probably talk to someone at a local store, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on picking out and storing the wine, too. I generally drink wine shortly after I buy it and store it horizontally in my closet until I open it. Should I do anything different or specific to help make sure the wine keeps well?

I've practically never had a red wine I didn't like. Any thoughts on specific wines to look for? I can spend about $100 on this, though less money is certainly fine. I've never bought a bottle of wine that cost more than about $30, and most of the wines I drink are in the $10 range, so I'm out of my league experience-wise. A recent favorite was a 2003 Reserve du Chateau Mouton Bordeaux Superieur, if that helps define my taste at all.

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	be_gentle_love 2008-04-19 04:21 pm UTC (link)
	Most wine that is bought a store is meant to be drank within 6 months, and your question has made me wonder.... I don't know if this will be helpful, but... http://www.cellarnotes.net/storing_wine.html, hopefully it will. Good luck! (Reply to this)

stemware
2008-04-19 05:02 pm UTC (link)

The first question you should ask yourself is do you have a place to keep it? You need somewhere that's between 50 and 60 Fahrenheit year round with 60 - 75% humidity combined with darkness and no vibrations. Once you have this figured out, have at it :-)

Pull out a recent issue of Wine Spectator, look in the notes in the back for something that will continue to age for the next decade. Barolos, Riojas Gran Reservas or better, good Burgundies, good Bordeaux, and certain California Cabernets are your best bets. You're in luck because for northern hemisphere producers there have been a string of good vintages since 2000. 2000, 2001, 2004, and 2005 are strong for Europe. 2003 was a very hot and dry year for Europe whereas 2002 was a wet and cool year for Europe, so only the better producers made good wines in those years (it's hard to find a good 2003 Barolo for instance).

Sometimes it's better though to let somebody else absorb the risk and store it for you. A number of Italian and Spanish wineries of strong reputation do not release their wines until it's time and often better wine stores will carry good Bordeaux a decade after its release, but expect to pay.

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jaiden_s
2008-04-19 05:02 pm UTC (link)

Most wine from California is meant to be consumed within 3-5 years, but there are certainly some good cabs that would benefit from a bit longer in the cellar. Silver Oak comes to mind. There are some French wines are especially good when laid down for 10+ years. IF you decide to cellar, make sure that you store your wine in a cool, dark place. I have a friend who stuck hers in the hall closet for 10 years, and when she opened the bottle, it was cooked.

I would recommend visiting your local wine merchant. He/she can give you good advice on what to cellar and how best to keep it.

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	zaydia 2008-04-19 06:30 pm UTC (link)
	You might also want to look into professional cellaring if you don't have something suitable. I can't find the article now, but I'm sure I read something in Food and Wine, or Gourmet about companies that rent out space in their cellars. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	zaydia 2008-04-20 01:28 pm UTC (link)
	found this list for you - http://www.wine-searcher.com/storage.lml (Reply to this)(Parent)

momar_mole
2008-04-19 07:44 pm UTC (link)

First of all, congratulations! I'll be finishing up school soon, myself, so I can certainly understand your excitement.

If you want a wine to keep for ten years, the most important thing you need to do is find a suitable storage area. Unfortunately, laying it down in your closet is probably not good enough. As has been mentioned, you want a cool (~55°F is best), damp area that stays fairly constant in temperature and is largely free of light. If you have access to a basement storage area, that should be sufficient (this is what I do). If not, though, you may want to look into local storage companies. Many of these places offer climate controlled storage and some even have specialized storage for wine. When you store it, you will want to keep it on its side to make sure that the wine stays in contact with the cork (so that the cork wont dry out). Proper storage is very important; without it, even the best wines can go bad after a couple years.

Once you have a storage area, you can start looking for a nice bottle. If you like Bordeaux, this seems the obvious choice, to me. Most nicer Bordeaux benefits from a decade or more of cellaring and the improvement is usually quite noticeable. I would probably recommend looking for a nicer 2004 bottle. The 2005s, especially, but also the 2003s are fairly pricey because of the excellent growing seasons associated with these years. 2004, however, was also a good year for Bordeaux. But, because it was not as good, 2004 prices tend to be lower. With a $100 limit, you should definitely be able to find something capable of lasting 10 years, if not longer.

If you want to try something a little different, I'd also recommend a 2001 Brunello di Montalcino (my personal favorite wine, so I'm a bit biased). Other wines that are capable of aging for a decade or more are Barolo and Barbaresco (avoid 2002 and 2003, though), Burgundy (2002, 2003, and 2005 are all quite good), nicer Spanish Tempranillos (such as Rioja or Ribiera del Duero), Chateauneuf du Pape, and even some California Cabernets. Loire Valley whites and German Riesling may also be capable of holding up to ten years of cellaring, if you'd prefer a white (I'd probably stick with a red, though). Finally, a Vintage Port would be quite capable of lasting a decade, but these are usually meant to be aged even longer and tend to be a bit more pricey.

Do talk with your local wine merchant about your plan and tell them what kinds of wine you most enjoy and what your budget is; they're usually quite helpful at matching you up with a bottle that will suit your needs. Good luck!

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	bialy 2008-04-20 02:20 am UTC (link)
	I don't have any good advice, I'm exactly in the same boat you are. But I'm graduating from grad school next year, and you've given me a great idea! Thanks. (Reply to this)

sidruid
2008-04-21 04:51 am UTC (link)

Tada, its portman! :) I always recommend port; it's a little less susceptible to fluctuations in temperature, and certainly good for 10+ years (though 10 years alone may not be enough for a recent port to age). You can get a good bottle for less than $100, and you might want to consider an 85, 94, or 97 (if those years have any meaning for you) to stash away for another 10 yrs. Of course you might also want to determine if you like port before investing in a fancy bottle of it. portlover.com has WS ratings, theportforum.com has discussion and tasting notes.

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