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Ageing procedures

What would happen if the ageing activity of wine could be fast-tracked to a point where a two-year-old wine could develop the qualities of a 20-year-old wine in days?

ANDREW J. LINN

Friday, 16 April 2021, 16:20

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The fundamental way wine is made has not changed for centuries, apart from minor improvements and economies, but in this time-conscious era it is the ageing process that is in the spotlight. Visitors to wineries marvel at the hundreds of butts covered in dust and are told that x million euros' worth of wine is tied up here for decades and underwrites the value of the company, together with the vineyards and the brands. Conventional ageing has always used expensive oak barrels, so unsurprisingly the quest is on for alternatives. But what would happen if the ageing activity could be fast-tracked to a point where a two-year-old wine could develop the qualities of a 20-year-old wine in days? In the eventuality the issue of storage would no longer be a costly problem.

Barrel and bottle-ageing is used to create smoother, fully developed wines with rich complex flavours. It requires nothing more than patience, and self-control, not to drink the wine before it has reached peak maturity. Essentially, a wine's tannins gradually develop from harsh and astringent to dry, smooth, voluptuous and velvety. However, time is money and recently hi-tech methods of artificially ageing wine have been developed; the market leader is simply an additive, that also works its magic with spirits. Lo and behold we then have a vintage wine of the age we have chosen and with the collateral economic savings. No-one can tell the difference. Is this what the average wine-drinker wants or is the 'old' method the best?

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