If you are looking at cheap wines in the UK, you may be missing out on the magic and excellence of the older wines, which are generally more expensive. This is not necessarily accurate, as both young and old wines have their own claims to fame.
When choosing your wines, you should keep your taste, when you want to drink them, if you have the proper storage, like a sophisticated wine cooler or built-in wine cabinets, and what flavours you are looking for.
Older Wines
A bottle of older wine is usually one that has been bottled and sold three years after the harvest. This has given it more time to develop its rich and complex layering of flavours. These flavours might mature even further by storing them at home.
It is essential to know when to open the wine. This is something you can find out from a wine shop. Opening the bottle at the right time will be essential to get the peak flavour. If the wine is stored for a short time, it can become less intricate in taste and, at times, undrinkable.
Although the older wines have a more complex palette, where hints and aromas of spices, wood and forests can be enjoyed, they will lose the fresh fruity flavour of a young wine.
Old wines aged at home should be stored carefully in the best storage conditions, perhaps even in a Liebherr fridge integrated with the correct humidity and temperature controls to ensure the right environment for ageing.
Young Wines
The young wine is usually sold within one year of harvesting and is not meant to be aged. Only certain wines are made to be aged, and if you try to age one that has yet to be designed for this, you might end up with a bottle of undrinkable vinegar. These wines are meant to be drunk within a year or two of bottling.
If you buy a young wine, you can open it that night to enjoy a fresh fruity or floral flavour with hints of wood and spices. These wines do not have to be stored as fastidiously as an older wine, and most can be stored in a cool, dark cupboard or, for the short term, in your refrigerator.
A younger red wine will also have more antioxidants than an aged red wine. It has been found that 90% of red wine’s antioxidants are lost during the ageing process. So, young wine is the way to go if you use red wine for antioxidants.
Young wines are often more affordable and easier to find than older wines. This makes it convenient to find and purchase a young wine for your dinner party, book club, or a glass of wine at dinner.
Slainte
Many people have been caught in the assumption that the older the wine, the better. However, this is only sometimes the case. Depending on your needs, a younger wine is more attuned to what you are looking for.