# Drinkability



## uavwmn (Jul 17, 2009)

I have a question?




In the order catalog for the wine kits at the bottom will tell you the wine is ready at (ex) 3months, "Peaks" at (ex) 1 year.


When the wine "peaks", is that is as good as it is going to get? What does "Peak" actually mean??


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## JimCook (Jul 17, 2009)

Uavwmn,


This comes down partially to individual tastes and partially to oxidation chemistry. Boiling both of those down, here's what we have for 'peaking:' 


- World-renowned wine reviewer "The Bob" (Robert Parker) will divinate that wines will peak during certain times based on their tannins, acids, pH, and varietals. He does not, however, give an exact date, but instead provides a range of drinkability and uses descriptors like 'early, mature, late, et cetera' to describe the life cycle of a wine. 
- Commercial winemakers keep a 'library' of their wines to test ageability. Good wineries will sample these with some frequency and have available tasting information regarding different vintages (Verite, for instance, does hit - call them up and ask how the 1998 La Muse is drinking and they will have the information straight away). The point of these libraries is to see the effect of time in the bottle on the wine. 
- Wine kit manufacturers, just like wineries, want you to drink their wine, enjoy that wine, and buy more, so there is a business side to things here that cannot be ignored in the big picture but is going to be otherwise ignored in my statements below.
- A peak moment differs between different people as flavor preferences do. If you like your wines to have less fruit, they may need to age longer to let the fruit fade compared to someone who likes really fruit-forward (younger) wines. 


Given all of that, a 'peak' moment for wine would be when the wine has hit its highest potential. The challenge is trying to divinate this using what would otherwise be a crystal ball. When speaking with Fred Fisher of Fisher Vineyards in northern California, he applied a tasting approach to determine when to harvest grapes and this can be applied to your wine bottles for peaking as well. He would taste some grapes off of the vines and when he felt they were peaking, he would harvest them. His cautionary statement was this: "Jim, you have to wonder when those grapes seem perfect - will they be better tomorrow? This is the challenge." 


So, the best way to determine when a wine 'peaks' is to hold bottles back and keep tasting. The hedonists will disagree, saying that a wine should be consumed before it could go downhill at all. And in that case, they should keep buying/making wine on a regular basis and being happy with what they have. Here is my own personal examination into aging and peaking...


The first wines that I made were started in March and April of 2007. While I have made many wines since then, I still have roughly 10-12 bottles remaining of these original wines. These being the first wines that I made, I was curious to see how they evolved and was opening bottles at a somewhat increased frequency originally. I can't say that I was pleased with the taste at six months. At one year it was okay, but still nothing special, so I figured I would wait a minimum of one year for my future wines. When the wine hit 18 months, it tasted even better, so I figured I would wait 18 months minimum on my new wines. At two years - noticeably better. And so I continue with my own library, determing what the peak of the wine is for me. 


- Jim


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## uavwmn (Jul 17, 2009)

So, for the kit wines it is a pretty good guess that the wines will taste good or very good within a year. And possibly awesome anytime after that.


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## JimCook (Jul 17, 2009)

Perhaps forum members can post what they've experienced with their longest aged or 'peak' wines? I seem to recall George talking about a white he had for around five years. I can only speak for what I've personally experienced, and mine have not stopped improving at two years. 


- Jim


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## Tom (Jul 18, 2009)

I will say I have3 Amarone's aging All are 6 gallon batch and all are from Italian all juice. One is '05, '06
and '08. The '06 is better that the '05 right now.


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## Bartman (Jul 18, 2009)

Tepe, 
Does that mean you believe the '05 Amarone has peaked and is now declining? Do you think the '06 is peaking now? 

Once a wine peaks, is there any way to tell how long it will remain "good" or bad it can get? Has anyone noted any varieties or kit brands that start to decline at a certain point? 

Bart


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## Tom (Jul 18, 2009)

Oh no far from that. Its just thatdifferent years will produce different wines from the same vineyard depending on the weather during and prior to picking. 

I expect the 05 will peak after the 06. Taste a wine in the store, same brand just different years and you will see a difference.


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## uavwmn (Jul 19, 2009)

Jim, thank you for the insight. I think bottom line, as Tepe alluded to, it is about the grapes and variety and I haven't heard anyone on the Forum saying their wine did not taste good after the "Peak" suggested time. To all, thanks for the input.


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## Dean (Jul 19, 2009)

When a wine "peaks" it is said to be at its peak for as many years as it took to get there. So, if after 4 years a wine hits its peak, it should stay there for 4 years. 

All this of course is based on optimal conditions of 10-14C, 70-75% humidity, complete darkness, and lack of vibration and temperature swings. Short of a cave in France, we don't have those conditions, so the wine will peak for a shorter period.

I'll note that most kit based wines will not last more than 10 years due to lack of structure (tannins, alcohol, acid). If they did have the structure to last, you would not be able to drink them inside of 3 years from making it. It would be horrible, until you learn to taste around it.


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## moto-girl (Jul 20, 2009)

I've heard it said that the length of time it takes a wine to peak, is the length of time it takes to decline.


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## joeswine (Jul 21, 2009)

I think the life of a wine is dictated by the care of the vineyard were the grapes were grown and the climate changes their in/ the way the process was handled in producing the juiceand the care the winemaster gave to the product using good wine makingtechniques and providing balance to the wine ,havinggood,sanitation skills this then is what gives good wine added life....the time of its life span is also derived from its storage conditions,so when one asked when does it peak only your taste buds will know for sure......I think


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