Aging of wine

Wine is one of the drinks that can benefit under certain conditions of a time-limited aging. While one usually connects the positive impact on the drink wine with the concept of bottle aging or bottle aging, the concept of aging includes the entire period between the completion of alcoholic fermentation and the time at which the wine is undrinkable.

Ideally, the wine improved over a period of time. A plethora of chemical reactions changed the wine flavors, the smell, the texture and taste, and the wine is the so-called bouquet from. Participation in the reactions are the sugars present in the wine, the acids and phenols.

The ability to aging depends on a variety of factors such as grape variety, vintage, wine making, the wine region and the desired type of wine ( for example, kind of wine, blending ( blend ), Oxidative wine, etc. ). The wait for the optimum moment of ripeness drinking can be expensive because the bottle storage, but increases the space needed a lot of capital and the market value of the wine is not necessarily. A traditional method of storing wine the. In wine cellars The there spreading with time basement mold develops an unpleasant odor, thrives best under even ideal conditions for wine storage and has a balancing effect on the indoor climate, so it is estimated in wine cellars.

The history of wine aging

Already the ancient Greeks ( → History of viticulture in Greece) was known to the positive influence of proper storage of wines. Wines from teilrosinierten berries were very sweet and had a good aging potential. The addition of resin, as it is still practiced in Retsina should make the wine more durable.

The Romans soon recognized the influence of the vineyard and the wine vintage. Falernian and Surrentine were very much appreciated after 15 to 20 years of storage, as was demonstrated during the excavations of Pompeii. By heating or smoking, the aging of the wines should be accelerated. From Galen we know, however, that he did not zusprach the artificially aged wines have the same healing properties as the normal aged wines.

In the gospel of Luke we read: And no one has been drinking, the old wine wants new; for he says, The old wine is better. ( Lk 5,39 EU), however, the tightness of the container has been problematic at that time: the wine was usually stored and transported in earthen jars and amphorae. Only small amounts were introduced into wineskins.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the progress came in viticulture over 1000 years to a virtual standstill. In the appropriate areas of the market for expensive wines had collapsed. The wines of the formerly northern provinces of the empire were thin, sharp, and low in alcohol. They stayed only a few months and served principally household in the absence of clean water.

With the technical mastery of wine Riesling originated in the 16th century in Germany long-lived white wines, which benefited from the balance between stahliger acidity, sweetness and a constant cellar temperature of 12 ° C or less.

The improved techniques for the production of the glass bottle and the cork in the 17th century enabled great progress in the proper storage of wine. Before that, the wines were stored in large containers and the butler had to constantly refill the barrels new, to avoid oxidation by direct contact with oxygen on the wine surface.

In the 17th century, the English discovered the fortified port wines, the mature Sherry and Madeira Wine preserved by heat treatment (see also fortified). For the long sea routes to England as well as in the British colonies, it required long-keeping wines. The British wine lovers influenced by their demand in a sustainable wine style of Bordeaux, which is still regarded as the reference of a durable, dry red wine.

The increased demand for aged wines also transformed the role of the wine trade, which now also stocking young wines was entrusted to Maturity. Especially in Beaune in Burgundy wine country, in the city of Porto and Bordeaux in the great influence and the growing power of the wine merchant was visible.