Contrary to popular belief, most wines available on the market are made primarily for immediate consumption, and will not benefit from additional ageing. If you clean your house and find a 10 year old bottle of nice but simple wine (I don’t want to say cheap wine, but yes, one of those), there is a big chance that it is not good to drink anymore – but you will have to try it to be sure.

Whether or not wines require ageing depend on the fermentation and time spent in oak barrels. Most wines in the entry-level range spend time in stainless steel containers before bottling, and depending the varietals, have to be drunk within a few years (approximately 1 to 2 years for Sauvignon Blancs and other crisp whites, 2 to 4 years for reds and some drier whites).

Oak barrels are used to concentrate the tannins and aromas which help most wines to age longer. Barrels can few used a few times, but newer barrels will add much more complexity and oak flavors. older barrels will give off less complexity and oak flavors, while still helping on the development of aromas. However, using only new barrels is very costly, which is why wines aged in new barrels will be on a much more premium level (few hundreds or thousands of RM).

So to make it simple (not strictly the case 100% of the time, but most likely), the more expensive a wine is, the older it can age. To give you a ballpark, a few years for a RM100 bottle and up to 50 years for the most premium wines, like Bordeaux Grand Crus.

You may have seen that term every now and then but cannot pinpoint exactly what it means.

A ‘balanced’ wine is used to describe a wine with good harmony between the acidity, fruitiness and level of tannins. Tannins are molecules present in many fruits, vegetables and leaves, and are a component which bring color and astringency. In wines, they are contained in the skin of the grapes, and are extracted during the maceration & fermentation .

As white grapes spend no or very little time in contact with the skin, red wines have more tannins, especially depending on the varietals (Shiraz contains more than Pinot Noir).

In terms of acidity, white wines tend to have higher levels of acidity compared to red wines.

Wines with a dominance of either acidity, fruitiness and tannins can be called as slightly un-balanced.

Many wines are aged in either stainless steel, concrete or even plastic vats. These are inert materials which keep the fruitiness and freshness of the wines. These wines will have to be drunk within a few years at most, and will not benefit at all from ageing in the bottle. 

Oak barrels on the other hand are made of a natural element which will have a strong effect on the wine.  As air goes in and out of the barrel, the flavor, color, tannins and texture of the wine will be more ‘concentrated’, causing the wine to need more time to arrive at an appreciated level – hence the further ageing in the bottle is needed.

Depending on the age of the barrel used and the time spent in the barrel, different wines will need different lengths of time for ageing.  New barrels will give more woody flavors and can be used a few times, but will give less flavors after each use.  The more premium wines usually use only new barrels for their wines (which makes it more expensive), so they need to be bottle aged for longer time.

A new technique now used by some wineries is to introduce oak in the form of chips or sticks inside a neutral vessel to add an oaky component to the wine, while keeping the cost down, as oak barrels are expensive!

Many wineries, especially European ones, still use traditional corks as a sealing method rather than the much easier screw-cap.  Here are a few tricks to help you open a bottle with a traditional cork without breaking the cork or hurting yourself:

• Remove the top part of the foil by cutting it just below the bottle ‘lip’ using the corkscrew knife. 
• Clean the cork, if dirty, with a towel
• Use a corkscrew and take your time. Start by holding the screw at the cork, perpendicular to the bottle. Be sure that the pointy part is in the middle
• Pierce the cork by pushing and slowly raising the corkscrew to an upright position. Ensure the screw is STRAIGHT and in the middle of the cork (if it goes sideways, you will have a higher chance of breaking it). 
• Twist the screw through the cork. When the screw is in deep enough, use the lever and start to pull. Get a good grip by holding the handle closer to your knuckle rather than using the tip of your fingers. This will give you more strength and avoid slipping. 
• When the cork is almost out, you can just remove it by hand – don’t pull the cork all the way out using the corskscrew handle with force, or you may have a suction effect and spill wine on you.
• You are now ready to enjoy your wine - Santé!