Wine lover here, but very elementary in my wine knowledge. I know what I like but beyond that, I am far from a connoisseur.
My wife and I honeymooned in Italy back in 2019. Being a silly tourist, you bet I hauled back bottles from Montepulciano wineries we visited. We’ve cracked into a few of the bottles on special occasions and these are the ones that we have left.
Considering the sentimental value, we are going to hold on to these for very special occasions, but I could see the last one standing being very hard to break into.
Are any of these worth holding on for the long term? Or are we going to wait too long, rendering these undrinkable? They live in an enclosed wine rack in my bar cart, so dark and consistent temperature, but not a cellar or wine fridge situation.
by messwiththeduck
6 Comments
Save them for a special occasion, this year. Valentines, Anniversary, Birthday, etc. I’m no pro, but I think all of these have plenty of years on them already.
I’d drink the toscana now. An IGT like that probably isn’t put together with a lot of aging in mind, and anything it’s going to do in the next 10 years has probably already been done in the first 10.
The Vino Nobile could go either way. At 12 years-old, it’s probably fantastic right here and now. But, a lot like Brunello, I think these really have the kind of wings to soar in that 15-20 year-old range. Probably wouldn’t go much further than that, though.
I can’t speak to the syrah.
Drink all now (imo). Avignonesi definitely has some age worthy expressions but it might be too much of a gamble.
Wines will always be drinkable, but think about opening them within 5 years. So keep them nicely in a dark, cool place, plan out your special days and few days before, let the bottles stand. Pop and enjoy however you like. I like to drink over the whole day, sip after sip. just let it breathe in the bottle, no decanting.
You want to drink the wines when it is pleasing, and for most of the wines out there, aging rarely enhances the experience. You can age them longer if you’d like, and who knows, that may be the better choice, but from my experience and stories of others, aging enhances the experience for very few wines out there.
Drink them all this year. I’d say if you had a few bottles of each string the drinking out a bit more.
The grifi has some Cabernet in it, if I remember correctly. I didn’t like that one as much as some of their other super Tuscans, but I bet it’s good now.
I love some Cortona Syrah. La Braccesca is owned by antinori I think? I think 2015 was a decent vintage. I have had some 2012-2013 vintages from Baldetti and those were humming. I’d drink that one in the next few years. It’ll probably be really nice.