Pinor Noir Ageing new vs old world

At the risk of generalizing, it seems that good Burgundies take far, far longer to reach their drinking windows than say good Sonoma pinots. Why is that?

Older vines, better dirt, more acid, less booze, IMO.
Best, Jim

Acidity and tannins are two of the more important aging concerns. Less tannins and lower acidity usually equal quicker maturing wines / easier drinking young wines.

What is better dirt? I thought some of the soils were “dead” due to years of chemicals. So not sure if you mean chemical composition, physical composition, or microbial composition, or all of the above. Also, not sure if you were being all inclusive or only speaking to specific sites that have taken better care of the soil.

Brian,
Specific sites that make age-worthy wines (since we are talking about aging). And by dirt I include the concepts of terroir, micro-climate, aspect, experience with particular grapes in that place, and the like. (I just prefer the term dirt to terroir).
Of course, this entire subject takes generalization to its logical extreme but some answer is better than no answer, I suppose.
Best, Jim

Thanks Jim and understand. As for just the dirt part, I am still trying to understand exactly what my low pH, sandy/gravely soil does for aging of my own wine. I don’t know exactly how to tease out the soil part from the rest of equation.

BTW, Fracois Andouse, who often posts on wine talk, was once asked which wine he felt aged the longest - his reply, Burgundy. Considering his experience with old wine, I found that both instructive and surprising.
I would intuitively assume that Bordeaux and other high concentration, tannic, acid driven wines would be more likely.
I have a fair number of good producer Burgundies approaching twenty in my cellar and every time I reach for one, I remember his words and pick something else. I just hope I live long enough to test his opinion.
Best, Jim

Jim, you might want to at least try a bottle or two at 20 years of age. I’ve found that 1995 Ponsot Chapelle-Chambertin is in a nearly perfect spot in it’s evolution for my wife & I, yet 1995 Ponsot Clos de la Roche is just starting to come around. The C-C is nearly fully resolved with very nice fruit and a less acidic finish, while the CdlR is still a little awkward as if it’s still in adolescence. Point being you never know until you try, and maybe you could track the changes over the next decade or two if you have several bottles of one particular wine.

Dennis,
Actually, I started with more and have been following your suggestion. But what remains is not enough to sample regularly so I am trying to hold out. To my good fortune, there always seems to be enough good wine to choose from even without those.
Best, Jim

The winemaking exploration of California is still in its infancy compared to the hundreds of years in Burgundy. I do not doubt that there are Grand Cru equivalent (note: not equal) sites in California. They have just not been discovered, or not yet properly exploited with appropriate vineyard practices/old vines/etc. to reveal their ultimate potential.

Then there is the question of how much aging capacity is a value versus a feature. A wine that needs 20+ years to reach its peak is really a bit of a PITA. :wink: