So how long do you hold on to wines you have been collecting or investing in? Via Rockss and Fruit Blog I found a link to a great debate on aging German Erstes Gewächs or Grosses Gewächs on Robert Parker’s Forum.
Terry Theise, one of the major German wine importers to the US, says
If you bought a case I’d advise drinking 9 bottles within the first two years and the other 3 after about 12-15 years. These proportions can be adjusted according to your preference for youthful versus mature flavors.
You want to catch the dry Rieslings while they still have some baby fat. Young, they show the most fruit and minerality they’ll ever show. But if you miss that stage, they do emerge after several years with a kind of 2nd-life. I happen to like that stage very much.
This assumes the wine was BALANCED to begin with. I’m of the school that says unbalanced wine will not BECOME balanced over time. I’m not talking about asymmetry, but rather about clearly disharmonious wine.
Last year on my trip to Germany, I had the opportunity to try a 1982 Kabinett and 1976 Spatlese. These held up fabulously and still were fresh and as interesting as wines that were one year old!
The big take away point from Mr. Theise is that if you bought a case of wine, and you are aging it, you should sample a bottle roughly every year.
