To open an old vintage is always a special moment whose discovery is not emotionless. They gain with age a complexity, harmony, and deepness no young wine can even approach. It is a moment very rich in symbolism, and the discovery of the effects of time on the wine will electrify you.
The way the bottle has passed time will obviously have an impact on its taste. The quality of a great wine able to age well over the years is however closely linked to the storage conditions.
The variations in temperature, high sun exposure, and low hygrometry in the storage location can badly alter the aging of the wine.
When it has aged in good conditions, the wine is ready to drink! Be careful, the opening of an old vintage demands a service requiring all your attention.
To drink an old vintage, you have first to open the bottle in the correct manner. Nonetheless, the corks no matter the quality they are, get fragilized over time. Therefore, it is best to open the bottle with a bilame corkscrew that will ease the removal of the cork without damaging it.
Temperature is a decisive factor regarding the taste of old wine. Old vintages are more demanding that the young ones and we advise you to raise the service temperature by one or two degrees . Eventually, red wines will be served between 16° and 18° degrees Celsius, meanwhile, white wines will be best between 10° and 12° degrees Celsius.
To decant or not to decant? The rule is there is no rule: it depends on the peculiar situation of each bottle, you have to taste it before deciding. However, remember that old wines are more fragile in contact with air. The best solution is to open the bottle and taste regularly the wine to check its evolution.
At the beginning of fall, our online shop Epicerie Tour d’Argent will host an extraordinary sale of wines: confidential bottles stored with the utmost care in our legendary cellars under the watch of our Head Sommelier Victor González. Rare and renowned vintages marked with the seal of Tour d’Argent are all together in the selection to come, to make you wait until the reopening of our gastronomic restaurant. Stay tuned by signing up for our newsletter!
