Wine Enthusiast – October 2019

22 | WINE ENTHUSIAST | OCTOBER 2019

SIPS WITH ZIP

GET ’EM

WHILE

THEY’RE

FRESH

Ageability

has long

been

considered

a marker of

quality, but

the tides

are turning

toward

bright,

vibrant

wines that

are ready

to drink

now.

T

he majority of wine
purchased in the U.S. is
opened and consumed
within a few days. At
the same time, there’s
a traditional narrative that
the very best bottles typically
need long cellaring to achieve
their full potential. Wines from
Bordeaux, Barolo, the Rhône
Valley and Napa that fetch
top scores and prices are also
deemed too big and bold to
drink right away; a wait time is
pronounced mandatory for them
to mature and mellow into their
best forms. But expectations are
changing about the relationship
between quality and age.
There’s a growing demand for
wines at all price points that are
brighter, lighter and at their best
young—and not just because
consumers are impatient.
“People want wines that
are ready to drink right away,”
says Max Gottesfeld, a retail
wine specialist for Fine Wine
& Good Spirits in downtown
Philadelphia. In part driven by
interest in natural wines and
glou glou, or easy-drinking,
chillable red wines like the
carbonic-macerated reds of
Beaujolais and the Loire Valley,
he says that customers rarely
ask about the aging potential of
wines anymore.

BY

SHELBY

VITTEK

ILLUSTRATIONS BY

MONICA

SIMON

PHOTOS BY

ROCK

CREATIVE