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ShareA lot of people believe that wine is at its best when it is old. That is as misplaced a belief as marriage or monogamy. The most philosophical answer I can give to combat both these questions is, "It depends".
Relativity is Einstein's gift to mankind but just like his other gift, the atom bomb, we are still to learn to master its usage. In fact, relativity is the essence of most things around us and to truly understand the absolute value of anything is only possible by analysing it first through a reference of relativity.
Indians luckily, are more gifted at understanding this; after all, we all have relations to fill a modest-sized zoo and we have particular names to refer to each of them. I can't think of many cultures which have a fixed word to refer to their mum's sisters' hubbies which is different from the word for your dad's brothers.
We apply relativity to all things around us. We all have clothes to wear at home and the threads to paint the town all sorts of colours. We have a car for eye-candy value and we have the work car. We even have two stashes of liquor: one when the relatives and well-wishers call, and the other, for when the in-laws visit.
But when it comes to wine we seem to paint them all with one brush; the brush that dictates with every stroke that all wines must be aged. I have been shown bottles by people that they bought for a 'bargain' in a supermarket that has crumbled since then, in a country that doesn't even exist anymore. Then comes the priceless question, "So how much do you think is this worth?"
I have come up with inventive yet polite ways of breaking it to people. A wine bought for a few roubles in what can only be referred to as former Soviet Union is not going to see you through your second bypass. You should consider yourself lucky if it even survives the flight back home.
Wine, being the living critter that it is, constantly changes, even after being bottled. This is not true of other alcohol, especially spirits, which stop ageing upon bottling. In other words, stashing whisky won't make it any pricier. Stacking wine could be more profitable.
The effect of time on a bottle of wine is relative. Wait, that's too simple; let me complicate it a bit. All wines will change with time but only a few will actually improve. To clarify, ageing can be defined as the natural process by which, over passage of time, a wine not only changes but also evolves positively thereby developing more complex notes, a softer and more nuanced palate and becomes a superlative of its previous self.
Confuddled? Perfect!
How long a wine can positively mature depends on how much ageing potential it had in the first place. A well-made wine with concentration of flavours will have a stronger ageing potential as opposed to a light feeble wine with low tannins. Which is why often, wines of the former type are made to spend some time in oak to not only improve their taste profile but also make them softer when they are finally sold in the market.
Oak ageing, if anything, quickens the evolution of a wine. Wines meant for immediate consumption are generally not oak aged as it would subtract from their already-short lifespan.
So, to sum up: don't try and hold bottles endlessly. Be more trigger-happy when executing bottles by drinking them. To open a bottle that is too young is still a lesser crime than letting a bottle go waste by over-ageing it.
