Would you rather drink a great vintage too young or....

Would you rather…

I’ve been thinking a lot about this topic lately. Looking through my cellar, I notice a lot of great vintage wines that are currently considered “not ready”. It bothers me because most of these, I have not had the pleasure of trying yet, for fear of wasting a great wine.

So I guess my question is, would you rather drink a great vintage of wine young, or a lesser vintage “in it’s” considered drinking window? What is typically more enjoyable?

This question needs a pole poll pull.

Hard to really answer the question, since those categories are so broad. But in general, I’d rather drink as many of my wines at their best age as possible.

For example, I’d rather drink my 98, 01, 02 and 04 Bordeaux in the next few years while letting my 95, 00 and 05 bottles rest. Is that the question?

Yes.

Put me in the camp of rather drinking a 90-point wine like a Bordeaux in its optimal drinking, showing tertiary characteristics, than a young, primary, so-called 98-point wine. I like the wrinkles and complexity that age can show on fine bones.

Created poll

Chris, yes, exactly my question

I’d rather purchase a wine after tasting it, but I understand that is not always possible.
I would rather purchase a couple bottles of a wine so I could open one up within a short time, but I understand that is not always possible.
I would rather drink a wine when it is at its apogee, but I understand that is not always possible.
Sometime I drink old wine because that is possible.

Time has a way of healing the wounds of the wine maker. So I would rather have a bad vintage at peak, than a good vintage early.

Ok, to those who let their great vintages rest, how do you know whether to load up on a certain wine? Do you try a single bottle early, or do you roll the dice on it? I guess I’m trying to decide whether I should account for an extra bottle to drink now. This of course would require me to buy less variety, and concentrate more on the ones I do buy.

IMO, if you buy an extra one to drink early, you have already purchased the other ones as well, which means no real sense in buying the one for now unless you want to drink it now anyway unless you think you might sell the others if you didn’t like the now wine.

Makes perfect sense?

BTW Adam, to finally answer your question, this is a tough choice. I guess a great vintage would always taste great, whereas a lesser vintage might not, especially after aging. BUT, you never now how a wine will age, and the producer’s track record in probably more important than the vintage itself.

My selection is…yes.

Easy, if Parker likes it…

A large part of it is buying wines that have track records and becoming familiar with how that wine ages. At this point in my life, my wine purchases tend to be a bit narrow, but 75% of it are wines that I have had many times throughout the decades. I had a wonderful 1983 Chateau Cantemerle last week. I know how this wine generally performs. I bought a lot of 2014. I did not necessarily need to try it given the quality of the vintage.

You make a good point on already having purchased. I find that I purchase 3 or 4 bottles of most of what I purchase. With the exception of my recent Turley craze, I’ve been buying based on reviews and tend to load up on the best vintages, with less regard to who made it, and more regard to reviews and recommendations. I suppose I could be missing out on finding the few wines I want to buy every year of.

I do the same at times for fear of missing out on a great vintage, producer, or new location. Now that I have too many wines, it has become much easier. I can always go back and try any of my wines at any time, but I also need to pay attention to what I have to drink vs. what I need to drink.

My recommendation - purchase slow, purchase older on the secondary market if you want to see how a wine ages, and sample from everywhere for free, if possible.

One of the best wines I’ve had in (semi) recent history was a 94 Chevillon Les St Georges. Despite being one of the worst vintages in the past (insert your number here) years…Chevillon killed it, LSG should be GC and it was opened at the perfect moment.

My suggestion: pop a cork on some of these wines instead of relying on other’s conclusions.

This…

…and I have had too many stellar wines from “off” vintages or middling vintages to want to drink a wine that simply isn’t ready.

I notice a lot of great vintage wines that are currently considered “not ready”. It bothers me because most of these, I have not had the pleasure of trying yet, for fear of wasting a great wine.

How do you know that they’re great if you haven’t tried them? In fact, why on earth did you buy them? What if you can’t stand them, regardless of whether they’re at drinking peak?

And who decides when they’re at peak or in fact, what’s a “great” vintage? Seriously - I generally buy wines I know and I trust my assessment more than that of any critic. And if I don’t know it, I’ll take my chances on my guess.

Greg, old age aligns us even more.