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A few qualities set age-worthy wines apart from most other wines.
A wine doesn’t need to have all of these qualities to be age-worthy. For example, Château d’Yquem and other Sauternes producers make wines that are high in acidity but not particularly tannic. The acidity alone is enough to increase the aging potential.
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Under these conditions, wine can mature slowly and gracefully without any disruptions. Another benefit of using professional storage services is that you won’t be tempted to open your long-lived wines too early. If a bottle is sitting in your basement cellar, it’s easy to grab it by mistake or gi...
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Some wines have one or more of these qualities but are still meant to be drunk young. A good example of this is Sauvignon Blanc. This variety is high in acidity, yet most of these wines don’t age well (with some exceptions). This is partly because producers typically don’t ferment Sauvignon...
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Aging wine yourself prepares you for future milestone celebrations. If you have a special occasion coming up like an anniversary or graduation, you’ll already have a collection of impressive, mature wines to choose from.
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The flavor profile of many age-worthy wines shifts over time. The flavors become more complex and savory, the aromatics turn into a bouquet, and the tannins become fine and silky. This isn’t true of all age-worthy wines (some stay more or less the same with age), but the vast majority of wines wi...
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Aging potential doesn’t automatically correlate to value or quality. You should invest in long-lived wines only if you want to taste how they evolve or if you plan on reselling your bottles after they reach maturity.
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If you consider fine wine a financial asset, then age-worthy bottles are some of the most reliable investments. You can buy bottles at a relatively low cost while they’re still immature and then resell them on the secondary market at peak maturity and at a much higher price.
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Why it ages so well: Nebbiolo is extremely acidic and tannic. It’s a well-structured wine that is not very approachable in its youth but that mellows with age.
Aging potential: 20+ years (in the case of fine Barolo)
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If you’re unsure whether to open that valuable bottle of 2001 Château d’Yquem or resell it later, you don’t have to make a decision right away. A wine like this could easily age for another few decades, giving you more than enough time to make your choice. A decade from now, you might discover t...
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Before you buy any age-worthy bottles, make sure you have a safe place to store them. Full-service professional storage services are the best option for keeping bottles that have aging potential because there’s less risk of damage and spoilage than if you kept them in a home cellar or self-stora...
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It’s also important to keep in mind that just because a wine is age-worthy doesn’t necessarily mean it’s valuable. If you’re looking for ageable wines that you can resell on the secondary market later, then you’ll need to invest in wines that are both age-worthy and profitable.
Commandaria...
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Knowing how to buy wine for aging is a challenge for many beginner collectors. This is partially because it’s easy to conflate quality with aging potential. However, just because a wine is delicious and received high scores from critics does not necessarily mean it can age for decades. So, which ...
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