last updated 17 Sep 2023
Lifecycle:
Dates are for Lewelling Vineyards 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon
- Planting
Selecting the location based on soil and climate
Preparing the land and planting.
It takes 3 years to bear fruit.
The lifespan of a grapevine is 25-30 years, but some vines can live for much longer.
- Harvest: (September 17 & 25, 2020) At the turn of autumn. In the northern hemisphere, this can be any time between the end of August and mid-October, and between late February and April in the southern hemisphere.
- Crushing and Pressing: After harvest, the grapes are crushed to release their juice. In the case of white wine, the juice is separated from the skins and seeds through pressing. For red wine, the juice, skins, and seeds are often fermented together to extract color and tannins.
Cold Soak: Extended maceration is common with red wines and is the process of extending the skin contact time with the juice either before or after fermentation.
- Fermentation: (5-21 days) The juice is then fermented, usually with the help of yeast. This process can take place in stainless steel tanks, wooden barrels, or other containers, depending on the winemaking style.
It takes few days to a few weeks, depending on the type of wine being made. Most take 5-21 days.
- Aging: (20 months in 90% new oak barrels) After fermentation, the wine is aged to develop its flavors and character. This can involve maturation in various types of containers, such as oak barrels, stainless steel tanks, or concrete vats. The duration and conditions of aging vary widely between different wines.
- Finishing & Bottling: (May 2022) Once the winemaker determines that the wine has reached the desired level of maturity, it is filtered, clarified, and then bottled. Some wines may also be blended at this stage to achieve the desired flavor profile.
- Storage: Bottled wine is stored in a controlled environment, often in a cellar, to allow it to continue evolving and maturing. Proper storage conditions are crucial for maintaining the wine's quality over time.
- Release - Distribution: (September 15, 2023) The wine is distributed to retailers, restaurants, or directly to consumers through various channels.
- Purchase: Customers purchase the wine either for immediate consumption or for aging in their own cellars.
- Aging in Bottle: Some wines benefit from further aging in the bottle. During this time, the wine can undergo subtle changes in aroma, flavor, and texture.
Lewelling Vineyards says,
"We recommend checking in with the wine at 5-10 years from the vintage date, and we expect it to age well to 20 years and beyond."
See Aging below
- Opening and Serving: When the time comes to enjoy the wine, it is opened, poured, and served at the appropriate temperature and in suitable glassware. The serving experience includes evaluating the wine's appearance, aroma, taste, and finish.
See the serving page for decanting, proper temperature and more.
See: How Red Wine is Made Step by Step | Wine Folly
Aging in the bottle:
As a beverage, wine is second only to coffee in terms of chemical intricacy. There are a lot of complex chemical changes that occur in a wine as it ages, involving phenols, alcohol, esters and other volatile compounds, says the wine writer and author Peter Liem.
Whether a wine is at its best when its young, old, or somewhere in between is often very much a matter of personal preference. But if you do appreciate the character and complexity of mature wine, the only way to achieve that is through time.
However the vast majority of wines are meant to be drunk right away, say Gaiter and Brecher.
See Budget Wines
Only a small percentage of fine wines on the market benefit from long-term aging. Most wines are best enjoyed within a few years of release. Le Connoisseu
When it comes to aging, red wines are quite flexible. Certain types can be aged for just three to five years, while others can remain in a cellar for decades. Cellar Raiders
Aging yourself, a shorter period 10 years, maybe, or even five can be long enough to result in a profound change. Some wine thinkers refer to this as resting a wine, giving it a few years to develop, as opposed to decades.
Experts vary on precise numbers, but typically state that only 5–10% of wine improves after 1 year, and only 1% improves after 5–10 years.
Kevin Zraly - Windows on the World Complete Wine Course: 35th Edition, 2020
"Red wines from California age well. Zinfandels and Cabernet Sauvignons from the best wineries in great vintages need a minimum of five years of aging before you drink them, and they'll improve over the following ten."
Lewelling Vineyards started by my Great-Great-Great Grandfather, John Lewelling in 1864 and operated by 4th cousins in St. Helena, says of their highly rated Cabernet Sauvignon, "We recommend checking in with the wine at 5-10 years from the vintage date, and we expect it to age well to 20 years and beyond."
There are a lot of complex chemical changes that occur in a wine as it ages, involving phenols, alcohol, esters and other volatile compounds, says the wine writer and author Peter Liem.
Scientists who study how wine ages (yes, it’s a thing) talk about one important part of this process as “polymerization,” a kind of chemical reaction in which tannins bind together, falling to the bottom of the bottle. This results in less astringency and a mellowing quality. Oxygen plays a role as well: The right amount of oxygen, which comes into a bottle over time through. Eater.com
Wine aging research at UCDavis's renowned Department of Viticulture and Enology
- Research on the chemistry of oak barrel aging.
- when a wine was bottled unfiltered, Saccharomyces yeast and acetic acid bacteria tended to die readily, whereas non-Saccharomyces yeast and lactic acid bacteria tended to survive in the wine for a long time. How long? How about 80 years!
I don't know if this article is related.
Special Issue: Wine microbiology and safety | Annals of Microbiology
microbial metabolites contribute to wine flavour, and their pleasantness or otherwise, besides being dependent on their concentration, is driven by many subjective factors (e.g. habit, fashion, opinion makers’ choices) that influence consumer taste.
the presence in red wines of volatile phenols produced by the species Dekkera bruxellensis. While some consumers and opinion makers prefer wines tainted by volatile phenols, others consider that, even at low concentrations, these compounds depreciate wine quality due to diminished flavour complexity.
[Author note: The purpose of including this is to show the advantage of aging is subjective.]
Links:
You Should Absolutely Age Your Own Wine. Heres How to Do It | Eater.com
Aging of wine | Wikipedia
The Best Wine Aging Temperature | CostalWineTrail
Wine aging research at UCDavis's renowned Department of Viticulture and Enology