Importance of the Drinking Window
Not That Kind of Drinking Window
The drinking window of a fine wine is an important factor for wine investors as it sets indicative time parameters for important milestones in drinking quality and changes in demand and supply of fine wine.
What do we mean by ‘wine drinking window’?
A fine wine’s drinking window is the optimal period, during which a wine is judged to be at the peak of its maturity. The ability of a wine to improve in quality as it ages depends on the grape, vintage conditions, the wine making process and of course storage conditions.
The majority of wine, is not made to age. 90% of the global supply is meant to be enjoyed within one year, and 99% of all wine should be consumed within 5 years. Less than 1% is fine wine which can age and improve beyond 5 years, and the best of these are Investment Grade Wines.
Probably the most important characteristic of investment-grade wine is their long lifespan and that they do in fact improve over time. Once they enter their drinking window and start being consumed they become even rarer and more valuable. Anyone that has wine investments need to be aware of the Wine Drinking Window to ensure optimum price performance as wines eventually pass their peak. They quickly start to lose value. Only iconic extremely rare wines will still continue to grow in price a long time after a predicted drinking window ends.
As a wine starts to mature its bouquet will become more developed and multi-layered. The Investment-grade wines are more complex and will develop several distinct elements to their aroma and taste, which could be various fruits, minerals, earthy, floral and oak derived notes. The finish of the wine will also lengthen with age. There will come a point of maturity when the wine is described as being at its ‘peak’. This is when it has achieved the maximum amount of complexity, the most satisfying mouthfeel and the tannins are softening but have not yet started to decay. This is when it is meant to be enjoyed.
Factors which influence ageing ability:
Grape varietals that have a greater capacity to age
Wines with High levels of phenolics, with a low PH tend to age well
Barrel fermentation and oak ageing also allows phenols to be absorbed improving potential ageing.
Vintage conditions
Storage conditions particularly temperature and humidity
The finest red wines of Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhone, Tuscany, California, Spain and Australia are renowned for their ageing ability and command the highest values. Sparkling wines are very rarely aged and are generally released ready to drink, as a rule they do not normally benefit from ageing. However, some vintage Champagnes may be aged due to the acidity in the wine and these are of interest for wine investments.
Sauternes wines which are exposed to Botrytis Cinerea, referred to as Noble Rot, the most famous of these being Chateau d’Yquem. This process results in a carefully managed state where the wine becomes botrytized, it is mostly used in producing especially fine dessert wines which age extremely well.
How storage influences ageing and drinking windows
Storage is key in regards to ageing and drinking windows. In general, a wine has a greater potential to develop complexity if allowed to age in the right environment. The lower the temperature, the more slowly a wine develops. Wine being stored to age should be kept at a constant temperature of about 55°F. Temperature variations should be avoided, as well as direct sunlight which results in the development of free radicals and the premature oxidation of the wine. Large format bottles such as 1.5 liter magnums, 3 liter jeroboams and larger, allow wine to generally age slower, and possibly extend drinking windows. If you have a temperature controlled wine cellar that is perfect, If not you could try storing at a local wine storage facility.
How is a drinking window determined?
The exact point of a wine’s ‘peak’ is completely unpredictable. Winemakers and professional industry critics have the expertise and experience to provide guidelines on a wine’s drinking windows. Robert Parker Jr was the first to provide a prolific guide on wine for consumers. His tasting notes included drinking windows from an early stage and are published via his Wine Advocate.
Coates Law of Maturity (established by Clive Coates MW) is used in wine tastings and to determine an approximate guide to the ageing ability of a wine. The principle is that a wine will generally remain at its peak drinking quality for a period of time equal to that of the time of maturation required to reach optimal quality. This is applied as a general indicator, but the market is in the main guided by the winemakers and the key industry critics.
Wine investors must therefore consider a wine’s drinking window before buying in terms of the time they wish to hold their wine and then at a strategically beneficial time to sell to achieve optimum price growth which may reflect increasing rarity but with still sufficient time within a drinking window to be certain of the wine still being of optimum quality to drink.
Grape Varietal : Average age to improve in bottle
Cabernet Franc : 5 – 15 years
Cabernet Sauvignon : 5 – 20 years
Merlot : 3 – 20 years
Pinot Noir : 3 – 15 years
Nebbiolo : 12 – 28 years
Sangiovese : 10 – 25 years
