“I like to think about the life of wine, how it is a living thing. I like to think about what was going on the year that the grapes were growing; how the sun was shining, if it rained. I like to think about all the people who tended and picked the grapes…if it’s an old wine, how many of them must be dead by now. I like how wine continues to evolve; like if I opened a bottle of wine today it would taste different than if I’d opened it on any other day, because a bottle of wine is actually alive; and it’s constantly evolving and gaining complexity, that is until it peaks, like your ’61. And then it begins its steady inevitable decline.”

Maya, from the movie Sideways (2004)

90% to 95% of all wines are meant to be consumed as soon as they hit the shelves. As one winery put it: “…remember that a wine cellar is not a wine hospital. If you’ve got an average bottle of wine to start with, it will not improve with age. It’ll just be an older average bottle of wine.” The top 5% to 10% of wines that will improve with age can be well worth the wait though: their tannins will soften and they will develop complex characteristics.

These top wines can be quite expensive while at the same time a higher price doesn’t guarantee that a wine is actually age-worthy or even that it is, in fact, a superior wine. If you are planning on putting some bottles away, but aren’t sure where to start, please send an email to info@1855consulting.com to inquire about how to start building your cellar.