More time to breath or wait another year

Hi,
I’m new to wine. I was gifted a case of 2015 turley estates cabs. I opened one last night. Let it air in the glass about 30 minutes. Drank the glass over another 30 minutes. It was mediocre. I put the bottle in the fridge overnight. Tonight, it was dramatically better—as in night and day better. Does it mean I should wait a few more years before opening more bottles? Or should I just open them and wait several hours? What should I do??? I really liked it the next day, but I don’t want to miss an even better experience if I wait another year or two…. Thanks in advance.

Thanks.
D. Sackman

Lots of wine benefit from time. Put them away for a few years and they may very well be better. I haven’t opened my 2013 Turley Cabs .

Decanting an hour or two ahead might achieve the same thing as leaving it in the fridge overnight.

The great thing about having a case of the same wine is that it affords the opportunity to experience it at varying stages of its evolution. If you want to drink another one anytime soon, splash decant a few hours in advance.

IMHO decanting is not a great substitute for bottle aging in a temperature controlled cellar, so I would say wait. That said, I have a high preference for aged wines. I rarely open any red wine with less than 2-3 years in the cellar and rarely open a Cab with less than 10 years of cellar time. Right now I am sipping on an '04 CA cab and it is delicious (for my tastes). As a beginner you need to work to determine your own preferences. Do you prefer the primary flavors of a young wine or the more mellow notes of an aged bottle. It is a fascinating and enjoyable journey, albeit a somewhat expensive one.

You are wondering whether to wait on a 2015 estate cab? It’s been in the bottle, what, a few weeks? Yes, wait.
http://www.turleywinecellars.com/2012-estate-vineyard

Welcome to the board!

I don’t think it is an either/or situation. Personally, I think the wine will improve dramatically with a few years of (proper) storage. As indicated above, this is true for nearly any cab-based wine, although perhaps to some degree less true with CA/New World cabs than old world versions.

But if you are going to open a wine like this so young, giving it lots of air will usually (though not always) improve the wine, mimicking to a limited degree what you get from aging. It is not the same, but it can inch you closer.

No great loss though. As Alan says, one of the great things about having a case is you can follow the wine’s maturation curve. It becomes part of your knowledge base.

Absolutely not. But for a recently released cabernet, it will often make the wine much more approachable than it would be if simply popped and poured.

Yes it should improve with a few years in the cellar.

No, decanting for a few hours or putting it in the fridge overnight (2 very different treatments BTW) will not mimic aging. However, they will affect the wine. And if you really liked it after it spent a night in the fridge, there’s nothing wrong with doing that again.

However, they will affect the wine. And if you really liked it after it spent a night in the fridge, there’s nothing wrong with doing that again.

This.

Hi David and welcome.

As he said above, do it again if you really liked the wine. Remember that when you put it into the fridge, you also had given it some exposure to air by pouring, so one thing you might do is decant and then put it back into the bottle, or leave in the decanter.

Another thing you should do, and I hate to tell someone to go spend some money, is buy a bottle or two of older wine, like with 20 plus years on it, and see if you like that. The wine will not be anything like a young wine, no matter how much you air the young wine, because the chemical changes only take place over time. And wines based on Cab/Merlot will age very differently than wines based on other grapes. But that’s what makes life interesting.

Best of luck.

Is no one going to ask about or demand the missing “e”. You guys are being pretty nice today.

If I wait another year, that’s one less year I have left to draw breath.

What was lacking in the wine on day one? If it was tannic, closed, stern, acidic … those would suggest a likely benefit to aging.

If it was soft, formless, sweet, creamy … those would probably be less likely to suggest the need for or benefit to aging.

I’d say, if you have a case, try another bottle in the next few months, but give it 1-6 hours in the decanter, sampling it periodically.

Thanks for your help so far. Specifically to Chris S.— the wine didn’t seem tannic, or at least what I think of as tannic where your mouth sort of puckers, like sucking on a lemon. It just seemed like the latter you mentioned formless.

I wish one of you had tasted it to give a better opinion.

I found the below on a website advertising the 2015 turley cab. Why are these people saying its ok to drink now, when some of your are saying i’m nuts if i don’t age it ?5-10 years.?

Thanks.

CABERNET SAUVIGNON “ESTATE”, NAPA VALLEY 2015
Vinous
89 Points
The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Turley Estate is a soft, open-knit wine that is likely to offer its best drinking sooner rather than later. Suggestions of sweet tobacco, mint, dried red cherry and menthol shape the mid-weight finish. Of the three Cabernets, the Estate appears to have been the most adversely affected by drought. Drink 2016 - 2026. Antonio Galloni Dec 2017
Wine Spectator
88 Points
This rounded Cabernet is smooth and easy-drinking, showing richness and tannic muscle, with a supple, graceful texture. Drink now through 2024. 2,700 cases made. Issue Web Only - 2017 JLTURLEY

I can’t comment on the Turley Cab as I’ve never had it, but I will comment on this.

Tannins are often perceived as imparting a rough or grippy binding quality to the mouthfeel of a wine, like having a furry or rough tongue and roof of the mouth. They may be bitter or not. The sour, puckery, sucking on a lemon sensation is typically associated with acidity. The interplay of tannin, acid, fruit and alcohol make up the balance of a wine, with the tannin and acid contributing the structural elements.

tannin is like the astringency of black tea. Different from acidity.

Have to give the new guy a brake . Lol