We all change, mature, and, hopefully, improve with age. Wine is no different—over time, wine’s color, aroma, taste, and mouthfeel all undergo a maturation process. For JUSTIN wines like ISOSCELES, that process takes place in a cool, dark environment—like our ISOSCELES Library. Obviously, not everyone has access to a wine cave, but luckily, you don’t need one in order to store and age wine like a pro.
When storing wine at home, there are a few things you’ll want to keep in mind.
Temperature
Store your wine between 50 and 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Any cooler and you risk drying out the cork, any warmer and you’ll accelerate the aging process.
Light
Avoid direct sunlight, which can cause the wine to become stale before its time.
Positioning
When possible, wine should be stored horizontally, which helps ensure that air doesn’t leak into the bottle and prematurely oxidize the wine.
Disturbances
Keep your wine as undisturbed as possible. Vibrations can shake up the tannins, which is not ideal for long-term aging.
Location
Avoid storing wine in the kitchen or garage, as those places tend to have higher variations in temperature, sunlight, and humidity.
Once you’ve found the ideal place to store your wine at home, you can expect several changes in its taste as it ages. Younger wines tend to have more floral and bright fruit flavors like black cherry, currant, and boysenberry, while older wines tend to have more savory elements and earthy notes like cedar, leather, and autumn leaves.
As for JUSTIN wines, every bottle we put out is ready to drink upon release, but they too can benefit from aging. For example, let’s compare our 2017 ISOSCELES to its older counterpart, the 2012 vintage. The 2017 ISOSCELES is full-bodied with aromas of ripe black and red fruit, and while the notes of vanilla, licorice, and cola are noticeable, they become more pronounced as the wine ages. Our 2012 ISOSCELES also has traces of ripe black and red fruit aromas, but the spices are more pronounced, as are the layers of smoky, savory elements.
Sampling multiple vintages in one tasting is a great way to get a feel for how a bottle of wine has transformed over time, allowing you to pick up on subtle, vintage-specific nuances. This is called a vertical tasting. For a proper vertical tasting, the sweet spot tends to be three different vintages of the same wine, which allows you to get a full picture of how the wine has changed year to year.
If you want to start storing, aging, or vertically tasting your own bottles of ISOSCELES, or any of our other fantastic JUSTIN wines, our online store is only a few clicks away.
Cheers!
