What does "fully mature" mean?

WINE TALK
#1

When you use the term “fully mature” to describe a wine, what does that term mean to you?

#2

I left in the bottle longer, it won’t get any better (and at some point in the not-too-distant future, will start to get worse).

#3

+1

Cheers
Rip

#4

“In a good place.”

#5

as good as it gets, which I don’t think means the wine is drinking its best, just that it won’t get any better

#6

and what does “In a good place” mean to you? … and don’t say, “Fully mature.” [tease.gif]

#7

for me personally fully mature means already over the hill…mature means a decent amount of age driven characteristics showing , so fully mature suggest a good amount of these present…

#8

For me, “fully mature” means you have no business being on Berserkers and should definitely stay out of the Asylum!!! [tease.gif]

#9

No, no. “Fully mature” means you’ve reached the ripe old age of 39. Like me [wink.gif] .

#10

Pretty much my impression too.

#11

Dude!

Not cool!

#12

Tell me about it [tease.gif] !

#13

try the ripe old age of 25! well not quite yet…ripe old age of 24 for another week…time flys by so fast! ha

#14

Fully mature means a wine that’s at the end of its peak, but still at peak if that makes sense. Like a 35 year old power hitter in a non-steroid baseball era. In a red wine, that means silky soft with tannin resolved, lots of tertiary notes along with fruitiness, and often a “bottle sweetness” that’s hard to describe but makes me think of the intensity and “sweetness” of cured meats and cheeses, or even how cooked vegetables caramelize. The texture of such a wine usually makes me think (seriously) of high thread count bed sheets, perfectly knit and a pleasure to touch. In a white wine, that sweetness is often more like honey or beeswax. Not sugary sweet, but torrified by age so that all the original freshness, fruit and acidity are still there but everything’s come together so that there’s even more intensity and, especially, length to the flavors. Hope that all makes some sense.

#15

Lovely description, Vincent. Thanks!

#16

Ditto.

#17

[scratch.gif] but if it’s drinking it’s best, it can’t get any better. So it’s the same thing. Or is there some special winespeak that’s escaping me?

#18

not winespeak … it’s lawyerspeak, Peter. Charlie is infected.

#19

Reading comprehension fail on my part. I read it as, “as good as it gets… drinking it’s best… it won’t get any better”
Selective reading, I guess.
newhere

Obviously, the definition is debatable, but I read “fully mature” the same as “at it’s peak”. If the wine is passed it’s peak, I would consider it anywhere from “still nice, but starting to lose it” to “totally gone, way past it’s prime”, but “fully mature” is now in the past (in my interpretation).

#20

“There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.” - Donald Rumsfeld on knowing whether a wine is mature, peaking, or as good as it gets but not necessarily at its best.