As a wine enthusiast, you may have previously read through a few articles about how to age wine perfectly, or maybe about what temperatures are ideal for wine preservation. The writers of these pieces often discuss renowned wines, but neglect to have any New World wines listed. This omission raises a few questions: Can you age the New World wines in any and every wine cellar? Can they be aged at all? Thankfully, the answer to both questions is yes.
New World wine is a term you have probably heard before. Wines coming from USA, Australia and certain parts of South America are relatively new to wine production. Previously, wine production was typically associated with the sunbathed vineyards of Italy, France and Spain. These days, the popularity of wine and the profits to be gained from its sales ensure that more countries are emerging in the New World production business.
Though New World wines often use the same variety of grapes as the Old World, the taste is a little different. This difference is due to climatic factors, such as temperature and elevation. The balance of a wine consists of its sugar level or alcohol level. Alongside the alcohol level, the wine should have a certain degree of fruitiness, tannins and acidity. Having both high acid and tannin levels always increases the lifespan of a wine; when grapes ripen, their sugar level goes up. Because New World wines are typically grown in warmer climates, the resulting grapes tend to be more ripe and have higher alcohol levels. This combination of characteristics may make a wine unsuitable for aging within the confines of a wine cellar.
How Does Climate Affect Wines?
Wines grown in the northern European plains are often exposed to colder conditions and have less time to ripen, making their sugar content lower overall. Old World wines generally have an alcohol level of 12.5 percent or less, so they are low on sugar and fruitiness whie being high on acidity. New World wines often contain more than 12.5 percent alcohol and are high on sugar and fruitiness, while lower on acidity. The Old World wines are not readily drinkable when compared to their New World cousins. The wine needs to be kept in the bottle for a few years for the acids and tannins to soften and the fruit flavors to develop. These wines are stored until all the required processes take place within the bottle. They are consumable in a few years time, once fully developed.
A Few Exceptions
There are certain Old World wines that cannot be aged, while there are certain New World varieties that need to be adequately aged before consumption. Whether or not you need to store a wine completely depends on the wine in question. The process for aging wines is similar in both varieties. Before you decide to age a wine, you should always gather some information about the age of the vineyard. Even a New World wine coming from a fairly aged vineyard could require significant years of aging. On the other hand, there are now many Old World wines that come straight from newly operational vineyards. The labels on the bottles should be your guides as to how much aging a bottle requires. Bar managers should pay heed to the instructions and use their skills to produce the finest tasting wines for customers.