As Time Goes By

.....or, why wine has to age to be good.

After wine has finished fermenting, and most of the solid matter has been removed from the vats, it has to rest for a time. In the days of Bacchus this aging was done in clay pots or open wooden containers, thereby adding unique complexities to he wine. Iron Age economics introduced the iron-banded sealed cask, a serendipitous invention that remains one of the principle aging vessels today - the other being a vat of stainless steel.


Oak, of which exist many species, is an amazingly versatile wood. It makes beautiful furniture, which patinas nicely and withstands the test of time; it constructs strong fences; it burns slowly and evenly in your fireplace; and has borne many people across the seas in fine ships. Oak is resistant to insects and fungus due to its high tannin content. Wait ... tannin content?

Yes, tannins .... which, when combined with the natural tannins of the particular blend of grapes used in fermentation, produce some complex and fascinating characteristics in the wines. Click here for a great blog post on tannins, by Jamie Goode, UK wine journalist.Add to the mix (metaphorically speaking), oak's biochemical gift of compounds whose flavors remind us of vanilla, tea, tobacco, woods, earth, or farm land, and suddenly the wine's foundation has been set. From there, it's all about Time, and allowing all of the ingredients and influences to blend together into a (hopefully) balanced, harmonious wine - later to be bottled and left to rest for another period of time before gracing the table. This process was beautifully shown to us by the masters at Castello di Brolio in Tuscany.

Click here for a short, simple to follow article on the aging process, and a wonderful set on instructions on barrel-making, by Beekman Wines and Liquors in NJ.
Click here for a more extensive explanation on winemakng, by Wikipedia.

All photos are (c) 2007-2008, courtesy of S. Harlandt