Preferred Wine Cellars
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Can You Age New World Wines in Wine Cellars?
Perhaps you have noticed that when reading about which types of wines age well, New World wines are often omitted from the list. Why is this exactly? Can you not age New World wines in a wine cellar? If not, what is the reason?
A New World wine is a wine which comes from Australia, California or somewhere relatively new to wine production (unlike France, Spain, Italy and other Old World places). Although these New World vineyards use the same grape varieties as the Old World ones (for example you can get Old World Merlot and New World Merlot), the wines are different and most of the difference is down to the climate.
The balance of a wine means its alcohol level (or sugar level) as well as the wine's acidity, fruitiness, and tannin. High tannin and acid levels increase the longevity of the wine, which means it will keep for longer. Grapes lose acidity as they ripen and the sugar level goes up. New World wines are produced in warmer climates and use riper grapes, which is why most of them are higher in alcohol and less suitable for aging in wine cellars.
How Climate Affects Wine
Most wine growing areas in northern Europe have a colder climate than the New World wine areas and this means the grapes have less time to ripen. Also, their sugar levels tend to be lower than their New World cousins. Old World wines usually contain 12.5% alcohol or less, low fruitiness and sugar and high acid. New World wines are different in that most contain more than 12.5% alcohol, high fruitiness and sugar and a lower acidity.
Old World wines are usually not as accessible when they are young, compare to New World wines because they often need a few years in the bottle to soften the tannins and acids and develop their fruit flavors to the full.
They are kept in the winery until they are a few years old, while these processes and changes take place, and then sold. It can be more difficult to find very young Old World wines because they are not ready to be consumed until a few years after they have been bottled.
Exceptions to the Rule
Of course there are exceptions to the above rules. Some Old World wines cannot be aged. Some New World wines age well. Some Old World wines are sold shortly after they are bottled. It really depends on the wine in question whether you should age it in wine cellars or not. If you are interested in aging wine, it pays to learn more about wine aging before you embark on such a project.
If you intend to keep wine for any length of time, you really have to find out as much as possible about it, else you are just wasting the space in the wine cellar, and also the money too if the resulting aged wine is undrinkable. Check the age of the vines that the wine is made from (and the quality of the vintage) if you want to age New World wines. If you are aging a good pedigree Bordeaux, the vine age is irrelevant because the wine in question will have already proven its worth.
