In a classic 'Only fools and horses' episode, Del Boy, trying to impress some ladies in a 'Yuppie' wine bar orders 'Beaujolais Nouveau 1976'. This was sometime in 1989!!!!!

John Sullivan (BBC) wrote this script at a time when the wine bar culture had started blossoming in England and of course this line was intended to make people laugh. (In fact the episode was voted as the funniest bit of Television ever shown in England), but maybe the script writer was trying to pass a message to the new 'Bacchanalians of England'!!!!

As happened in England in the eighties and is still happening today, here in Malta we are becoming a nation of wine drinkers. We are drinking about 8.5 million bottles of wine per year out of which 1.1 million bottles are imported ( tourists are included). We have started, although slowly, a small wine bar culture, we have a couple of wine clubs and many wine functions are organised throughout the year. All of this have created a hunger for wine knowledge which is extremely encourageable.

One of the many questions I get asked is ' is it true that white wine should be drunk young and that red wine can keep for a long time'.

Whilst it is true that most white wine can be enjoyed very young, there are some whites that would be better after some bottle age. I have tasted 10 even 20 year old white Burgundies and Bordeaux that were excellent. Equally most red wines are meant to be drunk within a couple of years after bottling, but more importantly there are wines, especially the great wines of famous regions such as Piedmonte and Tuscany in Italy or the Barossa Valley and Coonawara in South Australia not to mention Bordeaux and Burgundy in France, that would only give you their full potential after a few, sometimes many years of ageing.

Which brings me to the subject I would like tell you about today.

Of course soil type, grape varieties, age of vines etc. all have a part to play but for wines to age and improve in the bottle they have to have certain criteria which essentially mean a high level of concentration of all the major components of wine. Namely. Acidity, tannins, alcohol and fruit which have to be in balance. However balance itself does not make a wine ready to drink. Unless these major components are harmonious or if the concentration is too high, the wines will taste astringent and harsh when young which will need time in bottle to round off the harsh edges.

Because of reasons such as lack of cellar space, lack of patience, financial reasons etc, wine lovers all over the world have developed a liking for wines that are too young to drink. This in itself is not such a bad thing however those of you that have grown to like the great wines of Bordeaux or Burgundy, to mention two good examples, are not getting the full potential from the wines that you are drinking too young.

Most great wine producing areas are very susceptible to vintage variations. This means the weather pattern of a particular year within a region or even a particular site. The ideal weather pattern will have plenty of rainfall during the winter months to boost water reserves. A mild Spring and a long warm, not very hot summer with the occasional rain to ripen fruit, but also to retain acidity. If for example the summer is too wet this will dilute the concentration, If the summer is too hot this will create acidity problems. It is these variables that give rise to the so called good years and bad years.

But in reality with today's technical advancement in the vineyard and the winery, there are nearly no occasions when really bad wine is made. It just means that the wines will be have different uses. In the great years the wines will have big ageing potential whilst a bad vintage will provide lighter wines to be drunk young. The good years will make wines to have with rich food when they are mature and the lighter years will make wine to have with lighter foods earlier on in their lives.

So knowing the areas and properties where wines come from is essential when it comes to choosing wine, but the vintage is just as important.

Last week I had the great pleasure of tasting a number of great wines with a bit of age on them. 3 of these were from the 1990 vintage. Chateau Carteau Cotes Daugay, from the southern slopes of Saint-Emilion was an absolute perfection. Wonderfully round and balanced, totally harmonious, a bit gamey and a simple joy. Also from 1990 was Chateau Berliquet, equally from Saint-Emilion, but this time from the Limestone plateau. This was a bit tighter than the Carteau reflecting it's soils. Leaner tannins and less generous this would be 'a point' in a couple more years. Chateau Figeac, the famous Premier Grand Cru Classe from the gravel and deep sand area near Pomerol showed it's class and breed. A wonderful meaty bouquet, rich, just beginning to show maturity. On the palette, not yet fully harmonious with apparent tannins that will need a bit more time, maybe 5 years, to start shedding off.

Going many years in time to 1960, Chateau Lafitte from Pauillac on the left Bank of the Bordeaux region, was as expected past it. A weak nose, a bit too acidic with not much life in it. So was it too old, was kept incorrectly? No, it is the fact that 1960 was not a good year to keep wine from so long.

Last year I was very lucky to be invited to a lunch accompanied by great wines in London. On a table of 20 people which included Jancis Robinson MW, David Peppercorn MW and Alain Querre, 4 old wines were served. 3 of these were from the 1970 vintage. Monbusquet, Dassualt and Couvent de Jacobins.

Chateau Monbusquet's soils and style of winemaking were never the sort to make wines to taste well after 30 years. On the day it was a bit light and past it. However we still enjoyed the opportunity to taste it because 1970 was Alain Querre's first ever vintage at the helm. So a wine enjoyed in spirit, not body.

Dassault, was still all there, but tannins were a bit bitter. Probably due to over use of oak in comparison with the concentration of fruit in 1970. Couvent de Jacobins was great, maintaining it's balance with a gamey and earthy complexity.

But the star of the Lunch, and one of the best wines I have ever tasted in my life was Clos de la Roche 1921. There are not many words that I can find to describe this wine, except that I was amazed that an 80 year old wine can have so much life still in it. Not only that, but David Peppercorn confirmed that it has at least another 10 years life in it.

Clos de la Roche is a grand cru vineyard in the village of Morey St Denis in the Cotes de Nuits (Burgundy). This particular 1921 came from the Dr Barolet collection. Dr Barolet was essentially a scientist who understood way back in the twenties the importance of sterilisation and the effect of Micro biological and bacterial problems in winemaking and it's safe long term ageing. Controversially at the time, but proven right many decades later, he used to wash all his equipment (Presses, bottles, corks etc) in Brandy. All of this, together with the fantastic vintage that 1921 provided in Burgundy gave us the opportunity to enjoy really mature and developed flavours 80 years later.

Leaving the time of the death of Caruso, the rise to fame of Valentino and Mussolini's self proclamation as 'Il Duce' behind, and leap forward to today. The 2000s are just beginning to arrive at our merchants and cellars. 2000 was a fantastic vintage in most areas of France but especially in the Pomerol, Saint-Emilion regions of Bordeaux the wines have such concentration and balance that they are destined for the long haul. At the top level 15 - 20 years should just about be enough for those potential complexities to come out. At Grand Cru level 10 - 15, whilst at the lower end 2 - 5 years will just about do it.

So if you are a Bordeaux fan, and this article has inspired you to start keeping wines, you might be asking, 'What am I supposed to drink in the meantime'

The answer is simple. Drink up the so called bad years (eg . 99,97,94) and wait for the good years to come round (eg 2000,98,96,95)

I wish you patience and happy drinking.

P.S. The above applies to wines made in the traditional style. Some winemakers have recently been experimenting with modern techniques ( eg. micro bullage, reductive wine making etc.) to produce wines that do not need a long time to develop. However it seems that most of these same winemakers are reverting back to more traditional ways of winegrowing.