Recently, a friend related the all-too-common story of how a wine that enthralled during a special trip to (insert romantic vacation destination here) was a disappointingly different experience when she opened the “identical” wine at home.
Perhaps the differences may be ascribed to the emotional dislocation of the moment. I mean, doesn’t everything taste better in (insert romantic vacation destination here)? However, bottle variation is a real phenomenon, with a complex matrix of causes.
Unlike, say, Coca-Cola, which tastes the same from can to can, wine is alive.
This is expressed most evocatively in the award-winning 2005 (must-see) film, Sideways. Maya, the wine-loving waitress, stares seductively into wine geek Miles’ eyes and explains, “I do like to think about the life of wine, how it’s a living thing… I love how wine continues to evolve, how every time I open a bottle it’s going to taste different than if I had opened it on any other day. Because a bottle of wine is actually alive — it’s constantly evolving and gaining complexity. That is, until it peaks… and begins its steady, inevitable decline.”
So what causes bottle variation, and what’s a consumer to do? Several things are out of your control:
Bottling practices. In the last century, many wines were bottled from individual barrels and displayed minor differences. Luckily, with the advent of large stainless-steel tanks, the entire production of a particular wine may now be mixed for uniformity prior to bottling.
Cork. Since cork is a natural product, there is inherent variability. Over time, the amount of oxygen that comes through the cork into the wine ranges, so it’s unlikely 12 bottles in a case of wine will age the same. This is changing with the advent of screw caps; even high-end wines are adopting the new technology. As much as we may decry the loss of the cork wine-opening ritual, the growing dominance of the screwtop is good for consumers.
Air ingress. Because corks expand and contract ever so slightly, extra air space (called ullage) is allowed into wine bottles. Despite a seemingly airtight seal, small, volatile molecules may slowly evaporate through the cork, which accounts for the increased ullage in very old bottles. Paradoxically, some old wines with big ullage are wonderful, while others with small ullage are dead.
Now, what can you control?
Usually, you’re not aging wine for decades. Drink the whites young, and only hold most reds for months rather than years. Nearly all wines are drinkable upon release. Your wine merchant will instruct you on special bottles.
Buy wine from a reliable retailer that transports and stores its wines using proper temperature and humidity. The ideal for aging is 55 degrees and 70 percent humidity. As I suggest in CL’s Drinking Issue, released Feb. 26, wine dislikes prolonged exposure to heat and light. Never leave wine in your trunk or a hot car. Don’t keep wine long-term in a warm kitchen or a cold fridge — treat it like your pet. Enjoy it “in the moment” because, as Maya concludes, “it tastes so f**king good.”
This article appears in Mar 19-25, 2015.