aging wine


DON’T SAVE IT!

First off, let’s start by saying that it is typically considered rude to use all caps when typing. It comes across as obnoxious and yelling. Let me say that I meant the title to be like that. I am YELLING!!

My husband and I received a bottle of wine from some friends when they went to Hawaii on their honeymoon. It is a white wine. Wait. Scratch that. WAS a white wine. That was in 2001. Now it is verging on orange.

Of course this begs the question: why the heck did we wait so long to drink it?? Did we not realize it wouldn’t last?

Truth be told, in 2001, we weren’t as into wine as we are now. We knew that people aged wine, so it couldn’t possibly hurt to hold it for awhile, right? Especially a bottle that came all the way from Hawaii — that was a gift from a special occasion. That coupled with several moves, misplacing the bottle for several months (I am sure 4 months in storage probably didn’t help the wine.), and a realization about 5 years ago that we have likely missed the window leaves us today with a bottle that I am afraid to open.

Take this as a cautionary tale. If you get wine as a gift, open it soon. Enjoy it. And if you think it might be one that should be aged (few wines sold today really need to be aged), hop on the internet and google the wine and the specific vintage.

Dare me to drink it??