wines to put away for 3-4 years?

coleen

I want to put away a few bottles of wine for say 4 years to bring out for special occasions and I am wondering are all wines suitable for this? I saw st emilion grand cru reduced from 15e to 10e this week and was thinking of a few bottles of this. it is 2006 and maybe buying a few more special offers wine that might have 3 to 4 euro off. I drink mainly red and hope to put away 12 bottles in the next month or so. Is there any guide lines or tips for this or is it worth while at all? I am doing it mainly out of courisity and for a bit of fun.

enda1

My advice of you are going to be buying slightly blind is to go for something a bit more heavy to have a better chance of improving with age. Most "supermarket wines" will already be at or nearly at drinking age and will deteriorate with much aging and despite commen perception of Bordeaux, they are not so full bodied and most will not age so well.

I'd advise a Crozes-Hermitage or Saint Joseph from upper Rhone valley in France. Some Grenache/Syrah from Languedoc (micro appelation La Clape is particularly good), Primitivo del Salento from Italy, Malbec from Argentina. Also buy something from 2006 or newer if you want to experiment. Should get slightly better value as the aging of a wine by the merchant adds proce (usually) so you can same some money by doing it yourself.

coleen

what about australian shiraz or south africa pionatage would either of these be suitable? Also would it be better to aim for just a two year lay away time. thanks for your suggestions

lmtduffy

coleen wrote: »

what about australian shiraz or south africa pionatage would either of these be suitable? Also would it be better to aim for just a two year lay away time. thanks for your suggestions

these could work wonderfully and will probably more interesting to drink after ageing,
Try the wine first and try determine that it is a well made wine, as in it doest taste dull and that it has a bit of fire in it so you know it would benefit from the mellowing as opposed to just dulling.

MattKane

This isn't always an easy task without help. Go to a shop that has knowledgeable staff. They should be able to point you towards the best wines for aging. Check out the Chateau Reignac if you get the chance. A Bordeaux blend that needs another few years and will be something else in 3-4 years. Generally, cheap wines are made to be drank young.

1carrot2

Most red wines over about €12 would be suitable and should develop over your time scale.
My advice would be to buy a number of bottles of the same wine, e.g. your 12 bottles could be 4 bottles each of 3 different wines. When you drink a single bottle of wine in 4 years time without having tried that wine before, it is impossible to say whether it has improved with age. With 4 bottles of one wine, you can try the wine at various points in its development, thus getting a clearer appreciation of the evolution of the wine.
For me, Bordeaux would be my first point of call but maybe just trade up in a wine style that you regularly drink. This is a good resource for choosing the right vintage.