Winecast 34 - Soave
By Tim on Aug 2, 2005 in Podcast, Soave
In this week’s show I focus on Soave from Italy’s Veneto region and start a series on cellaring wine.
Show notes:
00:20 - Show theme and thanks to Adam Curry
01:20 - Background of Soave wines
05:50 - Tasting Notes
06:10 - Bolla Soave DOC 2004 ($8.50)
07:04 - Monte Tondo Soave Classico DOC 2003 ($8)
07:26 - Inama Soave Classico DOC 2003 ($10)
08:10 - Best of Tasting
08:16 - Best Value
08:24 - Cellaring wine
17:24 - Contact details
17:50 - Please vote at Podcast Alley
18:22 - Next show’s theme
Feedback: winecast@gmail.com | Audio comments: +01-206-33-WINE-9 (+01-206-339-4639)
Copyright 2005 Tim Elliott. Licensed to the public under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
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Hey Tim,
Excellent show as usual, with lots of really good info on cellars and cellaring … glad you got to the issue about having wine at the proper temperature. I’ve found drinking wine at the proper temperature to improve my enjoyment most now vs. the way I used to drink wines.
One small issue is that you were saying the wines best for cellaring were those that were extremely hard and tannic right now. I think usually the extremely hard and tannic wines actually do not cellar well — the tannins never resolve, and they just end up always being hard. It is actually the deeply fruity wines *with* tannin (and some acidity) that age well, that is, the *balanced* wines. That’s because with time, the wine tends to lose both fruit and tannin. A wine that’s all tannin will end up just being overly harsh. But a wine with balanced fruit and tannin now can end up delicious in 5-10-20 years.
I guess the question for your listeners will be how to find a “balanced” wine like this … I’d say you should do a lot of reading of professionals, experts, talk to your local merchants, and stick to wines with at least *some* track record, at least at first. Perhaps you have other ideas. I would probably not suggest someone new to wine to try to estimate ageability … I did that several years back (knowing nothing, of course) and ended up with several bottles of vinegar in the cellar, where I could easily have had a better experience had I not tried to age wine which I know now is not ageable …
Cheers,
Doug
Doug,
Thanks for pointing out that tannins are only a part of the equation in choosing wines for cellaring. After listening again to the segment, I agree that is sounds like I only recommend tannic monsters for aging; it is much more complex than that. Also, your point about finding recommendations from wine merchants and publications is a good one. I have had good luck with the Wine Spectator’s “Cellar Selections” over the years and it’s hard to argue with Robert Parker’s recommendations, as well.
I’ll address this issue with in a bit more depth in the next show.
Cheers!