“How do I cellar wine?” Good question. Most of us don’t have cellars, let alone basements that lend themselves to being dug out to create an archetypal ‘wine cellar’ (store) our wine?
The terminology around cellaring wine is pretty outdated and a bit misleading but wine can improve over the short, medium and long term, so the concept remains relevant. The question is: how (and where) do we store wines to give them the best chance of tasting better in time?
First up, choose wines you like so that you have something to look forward to. Ageing wine smooths off some of its youthful edges but doesn’t change its character.
The founders and owners of Blue Earth wines, Margaret and Mike Hanson, have done some of the hard work for us by releasing their new Pinot Noir with five years of ageing. Most reds spend the best part of a year ageing in wood (typically oak) but few are aged for longer in the bottle.
The new release 2021 Blue Earth Pinot Noir highlights the power of Martinborough in a great vintage. Handpicked grapes and thoughtful winemaking elevate its quality. The winemaker is the Hansen’s neighbour, Paul Mason, who owns (with Amy Mason, his partner) the Hidden Vineyard.
The final piece in the ageing puzzle is a space that’s temperature-stable, relatively cool (not freezing because tartrates crystallise in wine when it freezes – a result of harmless natural tartaric acid in grapes) and dark. Not mean under the bed, unless there’s no other option. Bedrooms change temperature. When spaces are tight, find the coolest, most temperature stable place you can.
Keeping good wines to enjoy in the future is one of life’s great pleasures. “Good” doesn’t always mean a high price tag and definitely doesn’t mean a flash cellar. It’s about what’s in the bottle.
Here are three fab wines for now or for the future.
WINES OF THE MONTH
2021 Blue Earth Pinot Noir RRP $69
Blue Earth is known for its olive grove south of Martinborough, but its Pinot Noir is a quiet hero from this site. Winemaker Paul Mason brings the bold characters of the outstanding 2021 vintage to this Pinot Noir, giving it 10 months in oak, 11% new oak -modest to low and all the better for it, allowing the wine to put its most authentic foot forward. Drinks beautifully now and will evolve for another six to seven years.
2024 Big Sky Te Muna Road Martinborough Pinot Noir RRP $55
Big Sky’s flagship Pinot Noir speaks with quiet confidence of grapes that have seen cool mornings, sunny days and an outstanding growing season in 2024. It’s a delicious showcase of Te Muna Valley Pinot with its aromas of ripe cherries and plums in a mouth-watering style with savoury aromas.
2024 Huntress Pinot Noir Pawero RRP $70
Pawero is te reo for ‘to intertwine’ and this Pinot Noir is a complex, layered aromatic wine a powerful core of dark cherry and plum aromas, spice, fresh earth and gently smoky aromas. It’s made by Jannine Rickards who brings excellence in quality and depth of flavour to Pawero.
