5 tips to cellaring wine

discover the secrets to

cellaring premium wine

BY SADDLER’S CREEK WINES

table of contents Tip One – DISCOVER YOUR PERSONAL TASTE page 3

Tip Two – UNDERSTANDING WHICH WINES ARE BUILT FOR LONGEVITY page 6

Tip Three – HOW TO START YOUR OWN CELLAR page 11

Tip Four – GET ORGANISED page 15

Tip Five

- ENJOY THE JOURNEY page 17

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Chapter one discover your personal taste

TIP #1 – discover YOUR PERSONAL TASTE

There is real joy in cellaring wines; it’s a lot of fun and a great hobby for all of us wine romantics and enthusiasts. It does, however, require some patience, time, a little bit of planning and love and tender care. So my number one tip is, first and foremost, discover and understand your own personal taste!

What do you like, what you do not? Do you like the taste of aged wines, have you tried a cellared wine? It is a well-known fact that most of the wine purchased in Australia is purchased on the way home from work and consumed within a day or so.

So many wines are consumed before they have reached their winemakers vision, before they’ve reached their peak. If you are unsure about your preference for aged wine we recommend you come and visit us at the Cellar Door and taste before you start your cellar.

The best place to discover your personal taste is at a Cellar Door where you will be speaking, more often than not, to the producers themselves, where their knowledge and expertise will assist you to discover exactly what you like.

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In Need of Assistance?

We are more than happy to help

At Saddler’s Creek Wines, our sole purpose is to share our love and passion for beautiful wines with you. You will explore meticulously hand-crafted wines with passionate enthusiasts, showcasing what they have nurtured overtime… with you in mind.

With over 30 years of experience, Brett Woodward, Head Winemaker and Cellar Door Master, Scott O’Connell have an expert vision for what wines are best for cellaring and how they will taste in five, ten, fifteen plus years. We are here to help.

Our Museum wines are available to our loyal and dedicated wine community, our Club Equus members or by appointment for an aged wine journey.

BOOK A TASTING

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TIP Two LEARN WHICH WINES ARE BUILT FOR LONGEVITY

TIP #2 – LEARN WHICH WINES ARE BUILT FOR LONGEVITY

Cellaring wines will transform and improve wine Cellaring will transform and more often than not improve the wine. That is, of course, if it is a well chosen wine. Not all wines will improve with age, if it is not good when it’s young it certainly won’t miraculously improve with age. Therefore, my number two tip ensure you discover which varietals are best for cellaring. Are certain vintages better than others, what winemaking techniques are used to craft a wine built for longevity?

When you choose the correct wines, you will experience flavours and textures unimaginable in their younger version.

For us, at Saddler’s Creek Wines we hand select wines to cellar each vintage.

Considerations we take into account are: the varietal, the vineyard and it’s growing conditions, the vintage and winemaking techniques.

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Not All varietals will age well Let’s start with white wines. Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio and Moscato for example, in general are wines made to be consumed when youthful. These varieties have low acid levels and often higher residual sugar which does not always age gracefully beyond a couple of years. On the other hand, white varieties which cellar excellently are Semillon, Chardonnay, and Riesling.

These wines often display higher acidity than other varietals and will develop beautiful rich fruit characters during medium cellaring and honey, dried herb and possibly spice characteristics in the longer term depending on the variety.

Likewise, not all red varietals age well, we recommend from our collection Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and their blends as a great way to start your cellar. They suit a longer cellaring of 10+ years as they have solid structure with bold tannins from top quality grapes and maturation in Oak.

BEST white Wines

Semillon, Oaked Chardonnay, Riesling

BEST RED Wines

Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz

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WHAT IMPACTS CELLARING? As Brett explains wines with high acidity and/or tannins are

At Saddler’s Creek Wines, as do most producers, we will

like a “a high mountain that takes a long time to erode away”

always indicate our recommendation for cellaring (often

vs low acidity and tannin wines which are like “an ant hill

more on the conservative side, as once it leaves it’s home we

where the environment will erode it very quickly.”

can’t continue to control the conditions its kept in) on the wine label or in the winemakers notes.

At Saddler’s Creek Wines we nurture our reds in oak for up to 24 months. The type of oak and length of time spent in oak

For the very best advice visit our cellar door and talk to the

barrels are winemaking techniques used for building

experts themselves, enjoy a tasting and let us know you’re

structures and body necessary for longevity. Overtime in the

wanting to cellar wines, we will work with you to find the

cellar the tannins clump together creating a smoothness

right ones to suit your personal taste, your cellar

unimaginable in its youth. The vintage, vineyard and growing

environment and any other variables.

conditions, what we refer to us the wines “terroir”, will also impact how well a wine will age.

Cooler vintages sometimes age better than warmer vintages, where fruit can ripen slowly, developing greater flavour and richness. Mature vines can also create fruit better suited to longevity and so on.

How exactly the terroir impacts individual wines is best answered by the winemaker. Brett, our winemaker has a photographic memory of this detail and how it will impact each wine he crafts and it’s aging potential. www.saddlerscreek.com.au https://saddlerscreek.com/

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TIP three basic steps TO START YOUR OWN CELLAR

CREATING A CELLARABLE ENVIRONMENT Once you’ve chosen which varietals you prefer and are ready for the next step of actually starting your cellar, it’s best to know what an ideal cellar looks like. It can be as simple as an insulated box under the stairs with bottles wrapped in a tea towel or as elaborate as a dream come true underground cellar.

Either or some key cellaring conditions need to be ticked to optimise the best results, these include:

temperature

light

cleanliness

location

Much like beer, light can kill a wine, it’s why we bottle wines crafted for longevity into darker coloured bottles and lighter coloured bottles for wines ready to drink know (e.g.

Rosé). Keep your bottles in a dark place, if using a wine fridge in a light room get UV protection on the doors, although most reputable branded wine fridges already have this.

Consistent temperature is the key, try your best to ensure there is minimal change. Maintain a temperature of less than 20 degrees ideally between 12-16oC. Try the middle of the house or under the stairs. A wine rack in your living room, next to your air conditioner/heater or above the fridge in your kitchen is the worst place.

Avoid smelly places, especially for cork sealed wines, smells can get in and taint the flavour. Dust is cool, dust doesn’t smell, on the other hand, petrol, paint, food can get smelly avoid sharing the same space with these.

Great options to start with are an insulated box, a wine fridge, underground cellar or even professional storage. Keeping in mind the previous points, location is the key to a perfectly aged wine. Beginners option is again middle of the house under the stairs or linen closet.

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humidity

If you have wines under cork, humidity is an important consideration. Thankfully, not so much for the more efficient crew caps which are now used widely in Australia. If humidity is too low, it will cause the cork to shrink and air will get to your wine causing oxidisation, resulting in vinegar characteristics overtime and a not very enjoyable wine drinking experience.

For wines sealed with a cork, you should always store these bottles laying on their side to keep the cork moist on the inside of the bottle.

vibration

Just leave it be, avoid moving it, wine doesn’t like to be moved around, they are homebodies and don’t like going out except for dinner. If you plan to drink an aged wine let it stand vertical and rest for anywhere from an hour to a 24hrs before opening, allowing any sediment to fall to the bottom of the bottle.

There is no need to rotate your wines bottles during cellaring.

This myth stems from the process of ‘riddling’ used in Champagne production. As mentioned earlier, let your wines sleep safe and sound with no movement.

If space, time and patience is an issue come visit us at Saddler’s Creek Wines we will always have a beautifully cellared wine available for you. https://saddlerCONTACT US screek.com/contact/

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experience flavours & textures unimaginable in it’s

younger version

TIP FOUR GET organised

get organised An organised space, organised life, just being

Of course, there is always the good old fashion method

organised….is what I’m advised works really well.

too of pen and paper or wine cellar diary, some basic

I, unfortunately have a genetic inability to be organised,

neck labels around the wines with vintage, varietal and

my organisational gene lays dormant somewhere

when you’d ideally like to drink it works well too this is a

unknown. I don’t know exactly what is in my cellar at

good way to minimise disturbing your wine

home!

(see Tip 3 ‘vibration’ wine doesn’t like to be moved too much)

Brett, our winemaker, says that’s ok, he loves not

Basic 101 of being organised, which even I do try to

knowing exactly what’s in his stash as it provides a little

adhere to, is separate your reds,whites, sparkling and

surprise every time he reaches in and brings a little bit of

fortified wines, this really does make your wine

joy. But for most, I understand, you like to list and know

journey more enjoyable.

what you’ve invested in. For this I’d recommend a good app, a local member of Saddler’s has developed just that, search in your app store “personal wine cellar database” or just search Wine Cellar Storage and many options will come up for you to explore, just check out the reviews and go with what feels right.

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A wine that has reached its plateau of maturity can be simply

magical

tip FIVE ENJOY THE JOURNEY along the way

TIP #5 – enjoy the journey The most fun part of cellaring wines is enjoying the journey

If the wine has travelled from afar or you have just taken

along the way. Time in the cellar can bring out magical

delivery of some aged wines, it is best to let the wines chill

qualities in the wine, transforming a fruit forward, tight

out for a few weeks before opening.

structured wine into a mellow yet layered and complex wine.

We also recommend you decant your wine to let it breathe.

I’d recommend you purchase a dozen bottles of your chosen

The air mixed with it brings out the best aromas and

wine for cellaring. Then taste it along the way, one, two, five,

flavours. Again, depending on its age anywhere from 10 to 30

eight, then 10 years and so on. Each time I taste a wine I try

minutes is our general rule of thumb (younger = more time,

to remember to add a little neck tag around one of the

older = less time)

remaining noting when I last tasted it, how I experienced it, I can refer to it when I go and taste again ina few years.

Remember, too much air results in oxidation, so taste along

Tasting along the way is not only joyous but also important so

the way. Finally, take your time enjoying your aged wine.

you don’t miss when the wine is reaching its peak. You will

Relax and enjoy the bouquet and flavours which will unfold

be very sad if your wine passes its peak and has moved

and evolve over the course of even an hour or more.

towards vinegar without your knowing.

We believe our wines are best enjoyed in good company with The trick is to ensure you have a few left when they reach

good food……..delighting in time spent with family and

their optimum drinking to enjoy with your family and

friends, all the while enjoying the pleasures of good food

friends…..or not. When you plan to enjoy your cellared

and great wine… it is one of life’s simply pleasures.

wine we recommend that you stand your bottle and let it regain it’s equilibrium, anywhere from an hour to 24hrs,

Cheers, Wendy!

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enjoy good friends & great wine

Lifes Simple Pleasures

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Enjoy xxx Wendy, Frank & Serge and the team Saddler’s Creek Wines

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