MAXIMIZING YOUR MUSEUM AND BACK VINTAGE WINE EXPERIENCE
Blog by Zane
For those unfamiliar with museum and back vintage wines, drinking them can be a unique and exciting experience. To ensure you get the most out of your wine, we have put together some advice.
When opening an older bottle of wine, it is essential to be gentle. Just as elderly individuals may not be as robust as their younger counterparts, older wines and bottles require special care.
If you have an 'Ah So' twin-pronged opener, it is ideal. However, if you do not, using a standard corkscrew is fine. To do so, insert the screw all the way into the cork, screw in the opener at a slight angle, and pull the cork out slowly.
Many old red wines develop a crust or sediment over time that can mix throughout the wine if the bottle is shaken or disturbed before opening. To prevent this, avoid shaking or disturbing the bottle excessively when opening it. Let the bottle stand upright for at least half an hour before pouring.
You can pour directly from the bottle or use a decanter but do so slowly and carefully. When pouring the wine into your glass, pour small amounts to avoid filling the glass. Doing so allows plenty of room to swirl the wine around your glass, allowing for better coverage of the wine and releasing more aroma.
Observe the wine's color; red wine will not be as dark or purple as its younger counterpart, while white wines will be darker, more yellowed, or golden.
Smell the wine by putting your nose in the glass and closing your eyes. In red wines, you may still get some sweet fruit aromas, but these will likely be mixed with more gamey, earthy, beefy, and generally more savory characters. White wines also develop more complex aromas, such as honey on toast in Riesling, barley sugar in Chardonnay, or honey and citrus in Semillon.
When you take a sip, expect a softer, more complex and interesting flavor profile rather than a firm wine with a big hit of fruit, tannin, and acid.
If possible, taste the wine before you eat. Most aged wines are more complementary to a meal than their younger counterparts. However, the flavors of food can significantly change the wine's flavors, so it is good to know what it tastes like beforehand.
Above all, enjoy the experience. After all, that is what wine is all about.
Our first well-cellared Museum Back Wine Auction is listed online now, view the catalog here.