Drinkability
The term maturity for drinking or consumption refers to the (temporal) maturity of wines , during which they can develop their optimal taste . Both terms are used synonymously for wine , although maturity is the generic term in terms of food technology. In comparison with the ripening process of bananas , it becomes clear that both too unripe fruits and those that are overripe will not find favor with all consumers.
general requirements
When it comes to drinking maturity, gustatory perception compared to smell is particularly important. Since tasting is a very subjective perception according to the psychology of perception, different times for the beginning and the end of drinking maturity are effective for wine drinkers. Although the components of the wine can be examined chemically, the composition of the taste experience consists of more than just the individual, measurable components such as the composition of the grape varieties as well as the sugar, alcohol and acid content. No wine tastes like the other, and even a well-made wine will - if grown separately - taste different from that of the neighboring parcel . In terms of taste, it is also important whether the wine has remained in the barrel until the end of its natural acidification or whether a double salt precipitation has taken place beforehand , in which the salts of malic acid and tartaric acid were separated.
In addition, wine changes its condition even after being bottled. The reason is that in a small container it is exposed to much more severe environmental influences such as brightness, vibrations and, above all, temperature fluctuations. Another important influence is a possible, sometimes desired, oxidation , i.e. less air exchange through the closure (mostly cork ).
High-quality wines in particular gain their quality through certain types and periods of storage. It should be stored in a light-protected room within a certain temperature range (which depends on the type of wine). In particular, temperature fluctuations should be avoided. However, storage for too long can be harmful.
Life cycle of wine
Two types of wine can be roughly distinguished: the ready-to-drink wine that is ready to drink immediately and the wine with a high storage potential, which will only be ready to drink after a few years. The immediately drinkable wine is characterized by low acidity and little or no tannins . Acid is an antioxidant and can turn into tartar over time; the process of acid degradation . Tannins also break down and become softer; the wines become richer and more complex. Such wines have a number of secondary aromas and so get their maturity over the years. The wine receives positive influences only before it is bottled. It is not for nothing that wines with longer barrel aging are of higher quality than those with shorter or without barrel storage. However, it makes economic sense to fill the bottles as quickly as possible, as this frees up the wine barrel as a means of production for the next vintage. Bottles are also easier to transport, even in-house. After the bottling, the cellar master's influence is over; the wine can only mature now .
There has been a U-turn among winemakers since the 1990s. After the market was saturated with wines that were immediately ready to drink, many concentrated again on old traditions with longer standing times in the wine cellar, also in order to be able to offer a greater variety of flavors in the wine.
Every vibration - especially through transport - but also pneumatic pressure - pumping into other containers - creates "stress" in the wine. Above all, this includes filling into bottles. Freshly filled bottles should therefore rest for at least a few days before they are opened. High-quality wines, i.e. wines that are not yet ready to drink, do not initially fully develop their taste after being bottled. Only slowly do they develop their expected taste and maturity, high-quality Bordeaux wines and the like only after decades. Wines of particularly good vintages develop a freshness even after 50 or more years after optimal storage conditions than much younger wines of simpler provenance , but are clearly superior in taste profile.
Michael Broadbent writes in his book Great Wines of a tasting in December 1985 at which a 1787 Château Lafitte (founded 1781) was tasted. The tasting took place as part of an auction at Christie's . “… No one had any idea of its value, which is why the owner agreed to release it without reservation. Instead of the usual estimate in the catalog, I coined the term 'inestimable'. The auction started at around £ 2000 . The hammer finally fell at £ 105,000, which is still the highest auction price for a single bottle of wine. ”Two years later, Broadbent tasted the same wine in laboratory conditions, but it turned out to be one contained a large amount of a wine made after 1960. This fake wine attracted a lot of press coverage. It was not until 1992 that he managed a tasting in Zurich with another bottle and, according to the laboratory analysis, real vintage wine . His tasting notes indicate that drinking maturity is clearly exceeded, but still edible: “Yellow-brown, no traces of red, a dark brown, flaky sediment; restrained nose which, despite the oxidized character, opened relatively rich, with traces of fruit; a hint of 'sweetness' on the palate and a sour, even pungent finish. ”In September 1987 in Wiesbaden, he certified a Château Margaux of the same vintage as having a significantly better taste:“ Slight shrinkage, shrunken black corks, thick, sandy reddish-brown sediment, the wine even deeper than expected; Nose hardly present at first, but then revived with appealing 'sweetness' through contact with air; rich in taste, nicely balanced. "
“Which names can give an adequate idea of a wine that has received the mildness it deserves through its age and that owes its development only to long storage ...? Telling us that he was intrusive, fleeting, time-bound, and so on, would by no means get to the heart of the matter. The only satisfactory and ingenious description is the comparison with other known taste impressions. "
Ready to drink for the consumer
The consumer does not recognize the difference between ready-to-drink and storable wine bottles. In addition to criteria such as growing area , vintage , grape variety , etc., trust in professional storage is also crucial for him. Bottle ages that go beyond a generation require a very high level of trust in a largely trouble-free ripening process. Wine experts can use the information on the label to get an idea of the condition of the wine; most consumers depend on specialist advice, their shopping experience or luck.
Conversely, knowingly opening a wine bottle too early is considered sacrilege . In professional circles, decanting a top wine in this way is called baby murder . Wine experts can also estimate how an unripe wine will develop over the next few years. On the other hand, this is consciously accepted in order to be able to estimate at an early stage how a vintage of a renowned wine turned out to be able to stock up on it in good time. These subscriptions , the tasting of which only took place with a barrel sample , are common practice in some growing areas such as Bordeaux.
To help the consumer, there are drinking readiness tables that predict the condition of the wines for the different wine-growing regions each year . A distinction is usually made between three or four options: still to be stored / ready to drink / probably spoiled or still to be stored / can already be drunk with pleasure, but should still be stored / drink now / avoid. Test results from wine tastings always evaluate the current condition of the wine with little consideration of its potential. If, on the other hand, a wine has passed its peak and is clearly no longer drinkable, but shows an aging mark , this will be included in the evaluation and disqualified.
The following table lists examples of well-known wine types according to ready-to-drink and storable. Here, too, the taste decides. The boundary between the two categories can be blurred in individual cases.
| White | red |
|---|---|
| ready to drink | |
| Reductive expansion (wine) | |
| New wine : Federweißer / Heuriger | Beaujolais nouveau |
| Young wine | Young wine |
| Summer wine , also asparagus wine | ( Summer wine ), to be drunk slightly chilled |
| Quality wine | Quality wine |
| storable | |
| Oxidative wine | |
| Fortified wine , e.g. B. port / dessert wine | Fortified wine , e.g. B. port / dessert wine |
| Predicate wine | Predicate wine |
| Top wines from classic growing areas: various champagne houses, mostly vintage sparkling wines, various wines from the Loire , Moselle, Middle Rhine, Rheingau and many others | Top wines from classic growing regions: Barolo (wine) , Brunello di Montalcino , Sassicaia , Tignanello , almost all wineries in Bordeaux such as Château Angélus and Château Pétrus , many houses from the Rhône and Burgundy such as Châteauneuf-du-Pape and many others |
literature
- Karen MacNeil: The Wine Bible. Workman Publishing, 2015, ISBN 978-0-7611-8715-8 , pp. 128-129.
- Reinhard Hess: Bottle maturity - drinking maturity. In: wine basic. 4th edition. Gräfe and Unzer , 2005, ISBN 3-7742-4936-9 , pp. 112-113.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Werner Heimann: Basic features of food chemistry . Steinkopf, Darmstadt 1976, p. 459.
- ↑ Michael Broadbent : Great wines. Hallwag , 2004, ISBN 3-7742-6345-0 , p. 11.
- ↑ Please don't drink too early! Captain Cork, November 5, 2014
- ↑ Marcus Reckewitz: Popular wine errors. Anaconda 2013, page 41
- ↑ Little Johnson . Wine Guide 2015. ISBN 978-3-8338-4198-9 , p. 48.