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+--- Thread: Did I spoil my wine? (/thread-18184.html)
- yarnfoodcoffee - 04-25-2008
I found an incredible wine a few years back, in a "Last Chance" bin. It was a 2002 Chehalem Cerise from Willamette Valley, Oregon. Brilliant! A beautiful Gamay Noir/Pinot Noir blend. The most gorgeous wine I'd ever tasted. Well, since they produced so few cases of that particular vintage, it took me MONTHS to track it down. I lucked out, and found a case from AvalonWine.com. I could hardly believe my luck. Unfortunately, at the time I was living in an apartment with southwest facing windows, and no air conditioning. The coolest place in the whole apartment was on the floor in the kitchen, against the wall farthest from the windows and next to the bathroom. That summer it easily reached 80º F in my studio apartment, but the kitchen always had ventilation from the open window and a fan. No sunlight ever hit that case, and it remained closed up except when I first opened it.
It's been over 2 years since then, and we've since moved to a place where I have a nice, dark, dry, cool closet to store my wine. Recently we had some friends over for dinner, and I opened a bottle of my special wine. It tasted dramatically different than I'd remembered (but at first taste 2 years ago, I'd already had a bottle of House Red with a friend.) It was almost sour, like it had more tannins and needed to breathe longer. My friends tried to convince me it was fine, but I'm not so sure.
Either way, I'll have to open a bottle and taste it again to be certain, but did I spoil my wine by leaving it in my hot, stuffy apartment? Should I have stored it in my public storage unit, where it was always nice and cool? Or has it been aging too long? Thanks in advance for any advice.
[This message has been edited by yarnfoodcoffee (edited 04-25-2008).]
[This message has been edited by yarnfoodcoffee (edited 04-25-2008).]
- Drew - 04-26-2008
Welcome YFC, I think a better explanation is that this wine, 80% Gamay/20% Pinot blend is not a wine for aging but one for short term drinking. Gamay does not age well. This with suspect storage equals two strikes against the wine showing well. Pop another and see.
Drew
- TheEngineer - 04-26-2008
I agree with Drew. Also even if it was a wine for aging, the tastes change over time and some of those phases you will like and others you will not. Having said that, Drew's two points are the most significant in this case.
- Thomas - 04-26-2008
The storage seems like a definite problem. But I disagree with Drew about Gamay not being able to age for six years.
Some Crus Beaujolais wines have no problem aging for that period of time, and may even fool people into thinking they are drinking a delicate Pinot Noir. Of course, I have no idea if that can be duplicated in an Oregon Gamay.
- Drew - 04-26-2008
And I agree with you on the Cru but most Gamay, Beaujolais, in our market does not age well, IMHO, and I suspect that State side Gamay is in that category. I still think another should be popped and maybe an email to Chehelam.
Drew
- yarnfoodcoffee - 04-27-2008
What would I ask Chehalem? I know they don't have a new vintage of that wine (2006) being released until May, so I'd have to wait til then to get any more newer bottles. Would I ask them what their plan of action would be, or what?
- Drew - 04-27-2008
Ask them what the "drink by date" would be for that vintage of wine. Most winemaker notes suggest a aging or drink by date but I can't find any on this one. The winery states, "Cerise is our name for a predominant gamay noir blend with pinot noir. Both varietals are best done in Burgundy and both exhibit a palate of cherry flavors and aromas. "Cherry" in French, Cerise is our tribute to a high fruit, moderately serious red wine. In Burgundy they do one too, called passetoutgrains, blended close to an 80% gamay noir and 20% pinot noir, for drinking while waiting for their highly structured pinots to develop. Ours is made with the same casual purpose in mind." It's this statement, casual purpose, that suggests a short window.
Drew
[This message has been edited by Drew (edited 04-27-2008).]