Uncork Cellaring Guides
Packed with information from The Uncorked Cellar ®, the Uncork series of country specific wine cellaring guides each provide cellaring recommendations from winemakers from the country in question.
Purchase any of the Uncork Cellaring Guides from our secure order page
Wine Books in the series include
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Purchase any of the Uncork Wine Guides from our secure order page
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Wines listed in are sorted in alphabetic order, first by winery name, then wine label, and finally the grape variety from which the wine was made. For easy and quick reference, a table is provided for each wine which contains the following information. Vintage The vintage year is the year the grapes for the wine were picked. Where a blended wine uses a spread of defined vintages, the vintage given is the youngest vintage in the blend. Merit Not to be confused with ratings derived from one person tasting each and every wine, the Merit figure provided in this guide is a figure of merit between 0 and 100. Where the winemaker has provided a comparison between vintages, this has been computed for each vintage of each wine. Where the winemaker has not differentiated between vintages, all vintages of that wine will show an identical merit figure. Factors considered in the merit figure for wines include a rating of this vintage of this wine as given by the winemaker, vintage consistency, comparable wines from the same region and the relative price of each wine. In general, ratings of 60 or above represent good wines, 75 or above represent excellent wines, while 95 or above indicate world class wines. Peak |
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Probably the most valuable information provided in these guides is the Peak year. This is not a "Drink by" date, but the year the winemaker expects the wine to be at its best. Where the winemaker has not provided a peak year for this wine, I have provided an estimate based on similar wines from other wineries in the region and identified the estimate with an asterisk. Although there is really no such thing as the one best year for a wine, a wine (either red or white) will typically improve for around a third of its bottle life, be 'at its peak' for around another third, then gracefully decline as the wine ages further. The peak year provided in this guide describes the center of the wine's life (ie: half way through its peak) provided the wine is stored under ideal conditions. That being said, storage conditions significantly affect how a wine ages and your tastes may be different from the winemaker's. If you are serious about wine collecting, a common recommendation is to open a bottle each year to see how the wine is maturing, so it is a good practice to buy wines in dozen lots. You should taste the first bottle about mid way between vintage and the reported wine peak. Value Values reported here are estimated values based on the most recently reported cellar door or retail price for the current vintage of the wine in question. Previous vintage values are based on each individual vintage rating, years improvement in the bottle, or degradation if they have passed their peak. Remember, the values given are a guide only. They are meant to serve you as an indication to you of the current worth of each wine - not as an investment, but to drink. For instance, early vintages will often fetch very high prices at auction for their collection value, despite the fact that as a wine for drinking, they should have been consumed well before the present time.
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