53. When is a "Special Bottle" Ready to Drink?

Resources & Links:
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About the Episode:
This week’s listener question comes from Liz, and it’s one many of us can relate to—how do you know when it’s the right time to open a special bottle of wine?

In this episode, I walk you through the key components that make a wine age-worthy—acidity, tannin, sugar, concentration, and complexity—and how proper storage conditions play a big role in how a wine matures over time. I also share strategies for checking in on how a bottle might be drinking now (even if it’s not yours!) using tools like CellarTracker and Wine-Searcher.

If you’re sitting on a wine you’ve been saving for the “perfect” moment, this episode might help you decide whether to wait—or go ahead and pull the cork.

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What You’ll Learn:

• Why most wines are not made to age and are best enjoyed young

• What structural and sensory traits give a wine aging potential

• How bottle variation and storage conditions affect aging

• How to use online tasting notes to guide your drinking window

• Why sometimes, it’s worth drinking the wine now—and creating a memory

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Ask Your Own Question:
Got something you’d like to hear about on the podcast? Leave me a voice note through SpeakPipe—the link is always in the newsletter. I’d love to hear from you.

Thanks for listening, and don’t wait too long—life is short, and the wine is probably ready.