Inspired by this thread , what causes wine to get better (or in the case of the linked thread, worse) with age? I’ve recently gotten into some nicer wine than in my college days, and want to learn a little more about why certain wines age well, while others are best when they are young.
The same things time, air, esters, and other very small things.
As a general rule unless you know what wines to age and how to age them you should just enjoy them now. Most wines you buy will not be “built” for aging anyway because they have a life expectancy from warehouse to glass of less than 3 years. Everything from the balance they have chosen to the closure used to finish the bottle is geared that way.
One easy factor to look at is the structure. If you were sure that you would age a wine for 10 years you would do things differently like adding more tannin or oak so it would mellow over time and your target of 10 years might just coincide with a fantastic result. If you think your product will be gone in 3 years you will have to use less tannin, as it will be unbalanced with only three years.
Thanks! I see from the other thread you know wine. Do you know why most white wines don’t age well compared to reds? Is there a major difference in the way they are made, or is it due to the different types of grapes?
From what I gather, the main things determining the “ageability” of a wine are the tannin level and the acidity level.
A high tannin level will eventually morph into something more drinkable over time, along with other reactions that can turn a rather harsh young wine into something amazing.
Acidity is similar- it diminishes over time similar to tannin.
Essentially, the concept of aging a wine is giving a wine that’s somewhat unbalanced when it’s young a chance to come into balance through the time-related lessening of tannins and acidity.
Most wines however are made using grapes and processes that have them pretty much as good as they’ll get soon after bottling- aging them just throws them out of balance instead of the other way around.
The main reason that most whites aren’t ageable is because whites have low tannin levels (primarily found in red grape skins), and most aren’t terribly acidic. Something like a White Burgundy or Chablis will age well because it’s pretty acidic to start with, but your run of the mill CA Chardonnay isn’t nearly so acidic and won’t age so well.
This could be an exceedingly long post that will become very rambling but the easy way to look at it is this: Rather than say why don’t’ they age “as well”, realize that they just reach their peak sooner. Further aging will not benefit the wine so it’s a great time to drink it now.
Something like slow cooking a stew or chili because spices are setting and stewing but after a hard boiled egg is fully cooked there is no reason to continue cooking it.
That’s not exactly right but it’s “kinda”. There are all sorts of things we can do to a white wine from the beginning that will make it age “better” but it really comes down to why are we doing it?
Outside of grape selection there are initial ingredients, fermentation treatments, and stabilization techniques that will play a big role in how a wine will age. Next comes bottling and cork selection. Then storage where temperature is a BIG BIG issue. Light (lack of it), humidity, vibration, and other handling issues all play important roles in how a wine will age.
We could manipulate those factors an others in so many ways that will produce a lifetimes worth of different results…it’s freakin complicated. 
John F and bump pretty much summed it up for you.
Tannins are the key. They’re a natural preservative, an antioxidant.
Tannins are found in grape skins (both red and white) and oak barrels.
Since white wine doesn’t have contact with skins, but red wine does, and whites aren’t usually barrel aged as long as reds, they have less tannins. Whites rely on their acidity to act as a preservative.
In a wine meant to be cellared, those tannins over time will join together along with other chemicals and settle out of the wine as sediment at the bottom of the bottle, creating a softer, smoother wine.
As John F implied, a winemaker can increase the tannin levels in a red wine by prolonging maceration or aging in a newer barrel. And as bump noted, that high tannin wine when young will taste harsh, but given a few years time, will taste superb.
As already mentioned, most wines, and almost all whites, are meant to be enjoyed immediately upon release.
There’s some good info on this site , including a very rough guideline on cellaring different varietals.
Thanks for the answers, I think I understand the basic idea, though I’ll have to check out psycat’s site when I get a chance.
The next step is making wine, if I ever get around to it. Probably fruits other than grapes, but it might be interesting when I have the starting money and some free time.
badbadrubberpiggy
If you want to dabble in winemaking, consider some of the wine kits that are out now. A basic equipment setup is in the $50 range, and another $50 will get you a kit that makes 6 gallons.
You’re probably not going to get wine that will be winning international awards, but it’s very drinkable, and beats the box-o-wines. Once you have the basics down, you can play with the recipes.
I encourage you. I’m in my third year of doing it and it’s very rewarding. Everything from finding and washing your own bottles to picking the fruit and prepping it to figuring out what fruits to mix with which and or which finished wines to mix together to make a unique blend (like apple and grape, or raspberry and cherry). Right now I’ve got Cherry, Watermelon, Rhubarb, grape, raspberry, and pear in the carboys. I’ve got a hybrid of the cherry and the raspberry in a fermentation tank as we speak. I’ve made about 13 different wines so far.
That starting money is next to nothing, if you consider you can give your wines away as gifts for the holidays and birthdays or any special occasion. The initial $60-$100 investment is peanuts.
Make your own labels too, that adds a nice touch.
Sounds fun! And definitely cheaper than I had assumed it would be, so that’s a plus. I still can’t get started yet, since I’ve just moved and don’t have a job yet, so I can’t spend money on something a bit frivilous. It definitely sounds like something I’d enjoy though. I always have homemade food around and love to cook, so having homemade wine is very appealing to me as well.
I have to admit that I’ve taken the cheater’s way, and I only make wine from kits.
But…
If you don’t go through a whole bottle of wine with a sitting, consider bottling wine in beer
bottles. The standard beer bottle hold 2 glasses of wine. No more partial bottle in the frig, getting old.
Sealing beer bottles is easier then corking wine bottles, and you don’t have to worry about
laying them on their sides. Fill up a case, and store it in a cool dry place.
Oh, I don’t think that will be a problem 
However, that would be a really good way to give a variety of wine to people for gifts, a few smaller bottles instead of one or two regular ones.
If you’re interested, the latest issue of Time Magazine recommendedthis book for beginning winemakers.