The Bordeaux Wine Experience on
the aging of wine
Wine in a bottle is very much alive and will develop with time. The development is affected by external factors which will either speed up or slow it down.
| The Cellar | Category of wine | The Vintage | Top of page |
The Cellar
Wine matures with time and should only be kept for a certain period of time which differs for different wine. After reaching its peak, the wine will deteriorate progressively.
Space |
Wine should be stored in an enclosed space yet spacious and well sectioned enough so that you do not have to move them around while looking for a particular bottle. |
Light |
The cellar has to be dark as light has a negative effect on wine. Use a candle or a torch in the cellar. Do not use paraffin lights as this will create an unwanted smell of fuel. |
Vibration & Noise |
Vibration & noise has to kept to a minimum as they will increase the chemical reaction within the wine, and will hasten the development process. Excessive vibration and noise will certainly ruin a potentially good wine. |
Odor |
The cellar should be odorless. Any smell - moisture, fuel, chemicals, wood, fruits, flowers, vegetables etc, etc is bad for the wine. |
Ventilation |
The cellar should be well-ventilated so that the air inside remains fresh and do not smell the dampness, but at the same time not too draughty. |
Humidity |
Too low the humidity in the air will dry off and ruin the cork. On the contrary, too humid the air will breed moisture and insects. Ideally the humidity should be between 70 and 80 %. |
Temperature |
Optimizing the temperature of the cellar is very important. The perfect range would be between 12 and 15°C (54 - 59°F). Below 11°C (52°F) the wine develops too slowly or not at all. Above 16°C (61°F), the wine is most certainly going to be ruined. |
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Category of wine
There are wines that are produced to be drunk within a period of 1 to 3 years, where others are being produces to be aged for a long period of time. There is no point at all to age a wine that has been made to be drunk within three years after production. On the contrary, these wine are usually interesting in their youth and will end up being uninteresting and unpleasant or even undrinkable after a few years. The following table will give you an indication of the aging potential of some wines. There are many factors that can affect how wine ages and we cannot explore all of them here. This information is here to help you but it is not warranted or guaranteed in any way.
Category of Wine |
Maximum Storage |
Dry White |
1-8 years |
Sweet White |
2-8 years |
Rosé |
1-3 years |
Young Red |
0-4 years |
Mature Red |
1-20 years |
Champagne |
3-10 years |
Sparkling Wine |
1-6 years |
Sherry & Port |
1-20 years |
| The Cellar | Category of wine | The Vintage | Top of page |
The Vintage
Another important factor determining the aging potential of a wine is the vintage. As Bordeaux is famous for its red wines and it sweet white wines, we will give here a quality chart of the vintages starting from 1900. As you are more likely to be interested in the more recent vintages we will start with those.
Quality chart of Bordeaux (red and sweet white) wines 1950-2003
Vintage |
Red wine |
Sweet white wine |
Vintage |
Red wine |
Sweet white wine |
Vintage |
Red wine |
Sweet white wine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2008 |
? |
? |
1987 |
13 |
14 |
1968 |
6 |
3 |
2007 |
15 |
16 |
1986 |
18 |
18 |
1967 |
14 |
19 |
2006 |
17 |
16 |
1985 |
18 |
15 |
1966 |
17 |
14 |
2005 |
20 |
19 |
1984 |
12 |
13 |
1965 |
3 |
10 |
2004 |
17 |
16 |
1983 |
17 |
19 |
1964 |
17 |
14 |
2003 |
17 |
18 |
1982 |
19 |
16 |
1963 |
3 |
3 |
2002 |
15 |
18 |
1981 |
16 |
16 |
1962 |
17 |
18 |
2001 |
16 |
19 |
1980 |
13 |
14 |
1961 |
20 |
18 |
2000 |
19 |
15 |
1979 |
16 |
15 |
1960 |
12 |
11 |
1999 |
17 |
16 |
1978 |
17 |
14 |
1959 |
19 |
18 |
1998 |
17 |
16 |
1977 |
11 |
7 |
1958 |
12 |
11 |
1997 |
15 |
19 |
1976 |
16 |
17 |
1957 |
12 |
10 |
1996 |
18 |
17 |
1975 |
17 |
16 |
1956 |
9 |
8 |
1995 |
17 |
15 |
1974 |
12 |
9 |
1955 |
18 |
18 |
1994 |
15 |
13 |
1973 |
14 |
10 |
1954 |
9 |
9 |
1993 |
14 |
12 |
1972 |
10 |
8 |
1953 |
18 |
18 |
1992 |
12 |
11 |
1971 |
17 |
17 |
1952 |
17 |
17 |
1991 |
13 |
13 |
1970 |
18 |
18 |
1951 |
8 |
8 |
1990 |
19 |
19 |
1969 |
12 |
12 |
1950 |
16 |
16 |
1989 |
19 |
18 |
||||||
1988 |
17 |
17 |
0 to 9 mediocre quality – 10 to 12 average quality – 13-14 reasonable quality –
15-16 good quality – 17-18 very good quality – 19-20 excellent quality.
| 1950-2003 | 1900-1949 | Top of page |
Quality chart of Bordeaux (red and sweet white) wines 1900-1949| Vintage | Red wine | Sweet white wine | Vintage | Red wine | Sweet white wine | Vintage | Red wine | Sweet white wine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1949 |
18 |
18 |
1932 |
0 |
0 |
1915 |
0 |
0 |
1948 |
15 |
11 |
1931 |
4 |
5 |
1914 |
8 |
8 |
1947 |
18 |
19 |
1930 |
0 |
0 |
1913 |
2 |
0 |
1946 |
10 |
10 |
1929 |
20 |
19 |
1912 |
2 |
0 |
1945 |
19 |
18 |
1928 |
19 |
17 |
1911 |
14 |
12 |
1944 |
10 |
8 |
1927 |
2 |
5 |
1910 |
0 |
0 |
1943 |
17 |
17 |
1926 |
18 |
17 |
1909 |
8 |
6 |
1942 |
11 |
13 |
1925 |
5 |
8 |
1908 |
8 |
8 |
1941 |
2 |
2 |
1924 |
17 |
17 |
1907 |
12 |
8 |
1940 |
13 |
13 |
1923 |
12 |
8 |
1906 |
14 |
15 |
1939 |
12 |
10 |
1922 |
5 |
5 |
1905 |
15 |
7 |
1938 |
12 |
12 |
1921 |
18 |
18 |
1904 |
16 |
14 |
1937 |
17 |
20 |
1920 |
16 |
15 |
1903 |
2 |
0 |
1936 |
5 |
11 |
1919 |
10 |
4 |
1902 |
0 |
0 |
1935 |
9 |
9 |
1918 |
10 |
7 |
1901 |
6 |
5 |
1934 |
17 |
16 |
1917 |
8 |
10 |
1900 |
20 |
20 |
1933 |
11 |
7 |
1916 |
15 |
13 |
15-16 good quality – 17-18 very good quality – 19-20 excellent quality.
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Wine and culinary tours in the Bordeaux region, France
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