to Kent Fisher, et al
How good your palate will be at 65, or 75, or 85 is probably a subject that has not been studied scientifically. I’m currently studying it myself, but anecdotally, without any scientific controls.
I’m 68 years old. I’ve been blending wines for sale for almost 25 years and continue to do so. The scores my blends receive from wine writers have stayed consistent or improved, even taking ‘grade inflation’ into account. I believe the sensitivity of my palate has at least stayed the same over the past 3 decades, if not improved. I have known a number of people in their 80s whose palates remained keen (granted, most of these were people to whom wine was of great importance in their lives; experts and/or professionals).
I feel that the experience that comes with age is valuable, eventually to be offset by failure of memory. When I do blends now, I often know from talking to producers approximately what my blends will be before I even taste the tank samples. I know the terroirs of the different sites. I know from discussion before I arrive what the weather was. I know what to expect. Of course I get surprised regularly, but I am still increasingly able to walk into a tasting room with ~30 tank samples and be very confident that a few hours later ~5 of them will be the components of a commercially successful blend.
Lawrence Leichtman wrote “friends have to put beautiful wines up for auction because they had to down-size their living space, went into assisted living, or died.”
I guarantee you that they did not have put up beautiful wines because they died. That would have fallen to their heirs or executors.
Assisted living can include wine. I have several friends in assisted living who brought at least part of their cellars with them. The competent, compassionate and sensible places at least allow if not encourage their charges to have a glass (depending of course on physical and mental conditions).
Downsizing should normally not mean giving up wine. If you have a substantial cellar and are downsizing voluntarily, off-site storage is available in an increasing number of places. However if money is an issue for living space, it certainly is also an issue for wine.
At 68 I still enjoy my job and apparently am still able to do it. I have no plans to retire or to stop blending wines. I am cutting back gently on how much I drink, but that is simply prudence. I am getting the same amount of pleasure from greater appreciation of each of slightly fewer sips.
Dan Kravitz