The more I learn, the less I know...

There is sufficient evidence that the ancient Greeks aged wine in sealed clay jars. The Romans, however, improved the practice and it became customary for the Roman nobility to engage in the ageing and, of course, in the enjoyment of old fine wines. After the collapse of the Roman empire, the practice of preserving and ageing wines faded away. Northern Europeans were content drinking cheap, diluted, low quality wines. A milleneum passed with wines having lost their luster. It was not till the 17th century when storing and ageing wines became popular in England among wine connoisseurs with the introduction of glass bottles and the use of corks. And demand for fine wines transformed the wine trade once more.
The ageing of wine depends on several factors, the most important two being: the wine must have the proper quality and characteristics to age; and must be stored in a cool place and not be in contact with air--not easily accomplished by the average wine owner and aspiring connoisseur. There is one more thing, however, that I wasn't aware when I started storing and eventually ageing wines--only a small group of wines available today commercially can benefit from extended bottle ageing. And then, there is perhaps the most challenging question that all of us who age wines ask ourselves: when is the right time to drink a wine that is being aged? Meaning, when does a wine reach that complex stage called full maturity??
I have grabbled with that question for a long time and many bottles have been been consumed in this, often enjoyable, pursuit of perfection without having reached any answers. I am sure of one thing today though--the more I read about the subject and the more I practice the various theories, the more I am confused. But we aren't in a hurry. We have lots of time and I promise you we will continue our discussion of this subject real soon in another detour in our journey. So stay tuned...

How do you like our new look?

We are experimenting with the format and the look of the blog. Today we are featuring a new look and would like to ask you which one you like best. This one or the old one? Our goal is to make it attractive but easy to read and follow...
Also, while I am not a wine expert, by any stretch of the imagination, I would like to encourage you to send any questions you might have about wine--especially the ageing of wines. If I don't know the answer, I would investigate and will get back with an answer on this blog. So, go ahead and challenge me...

Ageing wines...

The wine rack under the stairs served me well until I moved to Arizona where there are no basements and cool places to store wine. My collection of wines had increased along with my commitment to preserve them as well as possible. I had to find something suitable and quickly. I was able to locate the supplier of EuroCave, self-contained wine cellars that recreate the natural cooling environment of a chateau wine cellar. I was thrilled with my discovery as was not aware that such things exist and rushed to buy one of their units that could hold about 250 bottles. It was like Christmas when the unit arrived!
I was becoming acutely aware of how little I knew about wines, so I continued to read and educate myself about them. One of the new things I learned was that in addition to preservation, there is wine ageing too. You see, wines do age just like all living things. And this aging produces all kinds of secondary flavors that enhance the taste of wine and make the wine loose its bite.
"Given the vagaries of vinification, much Greek wine will not have lasted long, succumbing either to oxidation...or to spoilage due to inadequate storage, the risk of which was noted by Aristotle". (The Oxford Companion to Wine by Jancis Robinson). Old wine was highly regarded by the Greeks so the process of ageing wines has been practiced since antiquity. The comic poets of ancient Greece had noted that men preferred old wine but young women... I was not about to break this practice.
As I continued my enjoyment of and learning about wine, I realized that having the EuroCave wine cellar was some type of a transformational event for me. What started as a solution to storing and protecting wines from spoilage, evolved into a new science and experience that was destined to become my life's passion.

The challenge to preserve wine...

With the excitement of discovering these wonderful wines came the challenge of "where do I store all these wines?", and, more importantly, "how do I do so, without downgrading their quality?"
Till that time, I had never bought more than 2-3 bottles at a time, and I had not really paid a premium price for wines--didn't have the cash and couldn't distinguish low priced wines from expensive ones. Now all of a sudden, I was confronting with the challenge of having a large quantity, medium to high-priced wines in need of a proper home.
The solution to my dilemma wasn't very far. Under the stairs leading to the half-basement of my house there was an underutilized space where I built my first wine storage area. There in a cool and dark environment I could store horizontally most of my wines. I was happy to have found a decent home for my wines, but also excited about this new found hobby. I would go down the stairs and look at the bottles in their rows and columns and dream of having a real wine cellar some day…

How I got started...

The year was 1982 and we had just moved into a new house. I suffer from allergies and the house was surrounded by fields of wild flowers and all kinds of grasses. Not what I really needed...
One day a traveling salesman showed up at our front door holding a large black case. He politely asked if I would be interested in tasting some of the wines he was promoting. He assured me that they were very good and not available at liquor stores. Because of my allergies, I was always searching for wines that would not throw me in a sneezing spree. I invited him in and that started both my education and enjoyment of wines. Five of the six wines he was promoting were white German wines by Ferdinand Pieroth. One of my favorite was a Spatlese from the Nahe Valley in a beautiful sculptured blue bottle. To my delight, other than the superb taste of the wines, I noticed that I was not having any allergic reaction to them. And although I had not been a fan of German wines till that day, I ended up ordering six cases of the Ferdinand Pieroth wines. I have been a follower of Pieroth and German wines since then.