A guide to wines and their aging abilities, intruducing the #sage wines, red, structured beverages that improve with time

Ready to experience an emotional taste trip? Buy a special bottle, to keep for a special occasion. The #Sage wines of VINHOOD are structured reds, excellent for drinking today and capable of arousing your emotions if you decide to open them several years from now too.

It’s true, special dinners and occasions don’t happen every day, but when they do, a special bottle of wine must always be top of the guest list. Get #Sage, follow our tips about wines for aging so that you open them at the right time, and savour them when they’re in their prime.

THE EVOLUTION AND CONSERVATION OF A WINE

The aging potential of red wines depends on different factors: firstly on their containing enough tannins, then on the variety of the grape, the vintage, the aging period in the cellar and the limitation of the performance. Once it has been put on the market, the wine evolves as it ages in the bottle, a process during which the tannins decompose, making the wine softer with every passing year.

It is important to pay attention to these wines and treat them with due respect in the storage period. How? Avoid storing the bottles upright and, if you don’t have a suitable wine cellar or room, ensure you keep them away from heat, light and odours. One common mistake is to keep wine in the kitchen, perhaps the worst place you could choose for storing it.

How long can a bottle age for? This depends on many factors, associated with both the wine and the storage conditions. Sometimes, not even a wine aged in optimum conditions with a constant temperature and the right level of humidity can ensure a long life, or at least not to every bottle. But which bottles can age and for how long?

THE BEST WINES TO STOW AWAY

Limiting our selection to Italian grape varieties and mainly opting for bottles produced in purity using a single varietal, here are our recommendations:

Nebbiolo, grand autochthonous grape, with the wines from the Langhe area, such as Barolo and Barbaresco, you can’t go wrong. Remember that these wines are some of the best aging wines and are highly sought-after all over the world. You can find some of them in our shop. Today we propose the Barolo DOCG “Passione di Re” 2011 of Gabriele Scaglione and Manuel Marinacci’s Barbaresco DOCG “Pajà” 2009.

Uva Corvina in Veneto, Amarone, does this name ring any bells? We highly recommend the Amarone of the Monte Faustino Valpolicella Classico, a true delight.

Then let’s go down to Tuscany, Sangiovese grapes. A vintage Brunello will considerably boost the value of your collection! Why not try the “Vigna Soccorso” Brunello di Montalcino DOCG by the Tiezzi winery? Another option you can’t afford to ignore is the Tuscan IGT “Cantinino” Castello Sonnino.

Remaining in Tuscany, Cabernet Sauvignon: the area of Bolgheri, a classic wine with an international style where the aging process in wood it undergoes before it is put on to the market makes it more suitable for aging. Of these, we recommend the Bolgheri Superiore DOC “Alfeo” by the Ceralti winery.

Aglianico, we move down south, where we find two areas that deserve a mention for their quality wine production: Avellino for the Taurasi and Basilicata for the Aglianico del Vulture, a southern wine that stands out for its grand elegance. Our top tips? Taurasi Angelarosa 2007 and Aglianico Del Vulture by Quarta Generazione.

If conserved well, these wines can age for over 10 years without deteriorating, and on the contrary, the long aging phase tends to enhance their characteristics to their full potential.

IN CONCLUSION…

The evolution of a wine is a truly fascinating story and the only way to discover its secrets is to open the bottles you have conserved as soon as the right occasion comes up. There are no rules when it comes to the ideal time a wine should be kept for before opening. One suggestion is to buy several bottles of the same wine and see how a different aging period can give us different sensations.

And when we open a #Sage wine, we should always remember to pay attention to every sip and to restock our cellar with new wines.

Sometimes certain important bottles can be related to special occasions, such as birthdays, weddings and births. In these cases, sentimental reasons could postpone the uncorking of these bottles, as we await an occasion that is important enough to merit us opening them. We believe that the memory generated by a bottle is priceless, but bear in mind that wine doesn’t keep forever and that you might be disappointed if you end up opening these bottles too late.

HOW DO I KNOW IF #Sage WINES ARE MY KIND OF THING?

The life of a #Sage wine can be long and intense, and there will surely come a time when each one of you will appreciate its company for your most important dialogues. This is why we recommend that everyone should keep a couple of these bottles in their cellar. Don’t know which ones to choose? Try our #Sage Winebox, with two bottles selected for you every month.

Want to know if your #Sage wines and your tastes go hand-in-hand or if you have other ideal bottles? There is one simple way that ensures instant results.

Discover new bottles to love in our quiz! Every month we suggest the two bottles that best match your personal tastes.

Contact us to order your Winebox of #Sage wines and discover the ideal wines for you in less than a minute. Start the test by clicking here below!