an Australian winesage?By John Taylor

For example I recently opened a bottle of NewZealand Pinot Noir, luckily my last, and it wasflat as a table: most of the fruit, complexity,aromas and taste were gone, and it was just awine from 2011; if you compared to the tasteevolution that most Burgundy Pinot Noirsdeliver, well good bye New Zealand.

I have also experienced something similar withwines from Chile. I bought a few cases ofpremium Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon and

Carmenere, from three different wineries, andwhile they were outstanding when I boughtthem and also two years later, when I startedopening them this year, the wow effect wasgone, and although perfectly drinkable andpleasant, they were going down the hill quitefast.

That made me keep opening bottles, just incase I had a faulty one or two, but they were allthe same. Just to be sure my cellar was ok,

People usually assume that all wines can be aged, but as I describedin my previous article “Drink or Age” not all the wines being made aredesigned to age, in fact most aren’t.While I experienced amazing aged wines from France, Spain and Italy,when we try something similar from the new world the results are notquite what you would expect.

no signs otherwise, I opened a couple of Riojaand Bordeaux, and they were exceptional.

But what about Australian wines? Can theykeep for long? I have met several Australianwinemakers who have promised me that theyhave aged their wines for 20 years or more andthey improved with time. But should we believethem?

The first thing to consider, is that Australia hasbeen making wine just for a few decades,nothing compared to the centuries that thispractice has been in place in the old world.

Hence many Australian wineries, have not yetbeen “alive” long enough to experiment and seeif their wines last or not.

Many started making ready to drink wines,which were sold in full, and in fact not manywineries have kept stock of old vintages. So wemay never know. If you are looking to age for arelatively short period of time, let’s say fiveyears, many of the premium wines fromAustralia will hold well, some may improve

some other may not.

I have tried a couple of Riesling and a couple ofChardonnay that had been aged for 5-11 years,and they were fabulous: most of the freshnesswas gone, but the way the wines had developedmade them even more interesting.

I have also tried some premium AustralianShiraz and a couple of Cabernets which hadbeen aged for about a decade, and they wereamazing, but they were already great onrelease… How long more they will keep in goodterms, I dont know.While in General I love to age Bordeaux,Burgundy, Rioja, Ribera del Duero, Toro,Barolo, Brunelo and Amarone, and I have neverregretted doing so, I am rather sceptical withnew world wines, especially if they are notAustralian; I have been terribly disappointedwith premium Chilean and New Zealand, and Iwill keep experimenting with the three cases orso I have of premium Australian, but to behonest, when the wine is already ready to bedrunk, and especially as it is gorgeous, don’twait until tomorrow, drink it now!