Yesterday I opened a wine with some age (8 years) which I had looked forward to drinking since its purchase some years ago. It was a California Cabernet from a well known producer which I visited on one of my trips to Napa Valley. My hope for the wine was that the tannin and fruit would have subsided, but not disappeared, allowing secondary notes of earth, tobacco and any other surprises to appear.
After popping the cork the first thing I do with an aged wine is immediately smell for cork taint. After passing the first test I poured it into the glass and took a sip. The wine still had fruit notes but something was off. Within a few sips I realized the wine was flat. It was not corked or ruined it just did not have any life left in the wine. It was tired, flat or any other adjective that comes to mind.
I have read that wines can go into a transition period in the cellar. During this transition period that wine goes into a sort of hibernation where it does not show itself in prominence while it develops those secondary notes.
I am hoping this is the case with this wine and since I have three bottles left in the cellar I will try again on the vintages tenth birthday.
A disappointing Saturday night.
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