The vast majority of wine consumed in Australia is designed to be drunk upon release and ageing such bottles for more than a few years is rarely a good idea. But as you should know by now, the Vino Cammino range is quite different to what's on the shelves at a supermarket liquor store, and seeing as you are reading this, you are not the average Aussie wine consumer. This post shares a few categories to help you understand our range in terms of whether to age them, and how far in advance of drinking you should open them. To make things easy, price offers a very helpful rule of thumb - that's because age-worthy wines tend to spend more time in oak barrels and more time at the estate before release, both of which impact cost for the producer.
Under $45: peak drinking is now. Enjoy within 12 months of purchase. These wines (the Moscato and Dolcetto from Cagliero, and the Signature Alsace blend from Kuentz-Bas) don't see any oak, so freshness and primary flavours is the focus here.
$45-70 (plus the NV Champagnes): within peak drinking window now, but can continue to develop interesting characteristics for the next 2-3 years. Only one of these wines spends any time in oak (the Galverno from Cagliero), so generally speaking you're buying and drinking these wines because you want the lovely fresh and clean feeling of vibrant fruit (not to be confused with "fruity") and high acid. Very good, very easy to drink wines with layers of primary flavours that don't require too much thought for pairing.
$70-100: very good now, and could age to mellow tannins and increase complexity for 5-10 years. We start to see more subtle oak influence here, with the Timorasso from Cecilia Monte and the Vaucoupin Premier Cru Chablis from Domaine des Trois V the only bottles that doesn't spend time in barrel. Best to give them some air (an hour or so) when you open them, but it's not critical. Your decision will come down to personal style preference: more fruit and higher acid if you open them young, or more tertiary characteristics and mellower tannins if you give them some time.
Over $100: most are drinking very well with excellent complexity and body and are already showing some tertiary characteristics as the winemakers tend to release these to market after ageing at the estate for some years (often for longer than the time mandated by local regulations). But they are built to age and spend longer in oak than other wines in our range (almost always large format, old oak, which makes the influence soft and subtle). That means you can easily put them down for a decade or more if your personal preference is for a greater focus on tertiary characteristics like leather, truffles, earth, etc. Generally, the older the vintage the more the flavours will have developed from primary (fruit) to tertiary. Best to give plenty of air if you open soon after purchase (3-4 hours but many of them stay great for days).
Some notable callouts from the above general approach.
- Chianti Classico Gran Selezione & Barbaresco Dedicato a Paulo: these are incredible wines and you will enjoy them if you open them now, but we highly recommend waiting before you open. They are still quite reserved and have several years to go before the tannins will soften enough to reveal a perfect balance of fruit, acid and tannins. To get your money's worth, we suggest putting it away and not touching it for at least 5 years (we'll let our mailing list know if we taste bottles in future years). If you do open them before then, pour it into a decanter and check in on it every few hours to see how it's developing. We decided a bottle of the Dedicato a Paulo we opened on the weekend was getting interesting after 8 hours so that's when we drank it (plus it was getting late...).
- Vintage Champagne: It has 6-7 years of age under it's belt on release so it's already got incredible complexity, but to be honest, we don't know what to expect for this one. It absolutely has the acid, body and fruit to go the distance, but it's so delicious now, we're not sure if we'll be able to hold ourselves back to find out. The Godin sisters are curious how it will evolve over the next decade, but as one of their first vintage champagnes, they're watching it play out along with all of us.
- Cognacs and Grappa - the ageing process for these spirits stops once they are bottled. All of the incredible aromas and complexity develop during their time in barrel, so there's no benefit in further ageing after you've purchased. On the flipside, the high alcohol content makes them very stable, so you can take all the time you need to drink them.