In West By Golly Virginia, I have been given the moniker by friends and foes alike as THE State Wino. Of course, I wear that designation as a badge of honor. So, it always comes as a shock and embarrassment when folks consider me a wine expert. I suppose my aversion to the acceptance of positive recognition is the result of a primary and secondary Catholic school education where guilt is the only attribute held in higher esteem than humility.
Anyway, one of the benefits of surviving being whacked on the knuckles (and other places) by nuns, surviving a war in southeast Asia and enduring multiple physical infirmities is that I have lived long enough to have accumulated several cases of older wine. In fact, I continue to collect wines which I believe are age-worthy, despite the undeniable fact that these bottles will outlive me. Some folks get wiser with age. I just get more wine!
Right now there is a glut of wine on the market due to international tariffs and the movement, primarily by younger folks, to move their consumption of beverages to “mocktails” or slightly alcoholic cans of vodka-like spritzers. This is good and bad news for we wine-loving dinosaurs. Good news because the laws of supply and demand are presenting us with some terrific bargains. Bad news because many vineyards around the world are being dug up and not replanted. Even some of the most prestigious appellations such as Bordeaux and the Napa Valley have been affected by these economic and cultural changes. So, what’s a die-hard wine lover to do?
Well, I suggest you visit your local wine shop and check out the prices. There are some great values there now. There are also excellent bargains right now on older vintages of Bordeaux and the ones just appearing now online as 2025 futures. If you’re an old codger like me who is hoping for some life extending miracle drug or, better yet- someone who is a younger wine aficionado, now is a good time to invest in what is known in Bordeaux futures as En Premeur. In addition to your local wine shop, some places where you may order these futures are online retailers.
The catch here is with futures you pay for the discounted wine now and won’t receive them for a couple of years- around the fall of 2028. But if you plan to age the wines and resist the urge to drink them when you receive them, you will (hopefully) be rewarded with a special bottle of wine. And the experts are giving the 2025 Bordeaux high marks for quality and value. Over the years, I have experienced the good, bad and ugly agony of aging wine. It can be a wonderfully pleasurable experience when you open a special bottle of wine you’ve allowed to lay undisturbed for a decade or two in your cellar.
But this is not always the case ( pun intended) and be prepared to be disappointed. However, I have been fortunate to have had more good experiences than bad and, believe me when I say that the good experiences are always worth waiting for. You need to remember that aging wine for the long haul also requires a cool, humid, dark, vibration and odor-free environment. It doesn’t need to be a fancy wine cellar, but it should meet the above-mentioned requirements so that your wine will have the best opportunity to reach maturity in good condition.Here are some wine online retailers you might check for their En Premeur offerings: Calvert Woodley: K&L Wine Merchants; Addy Bassin’s MacArthur Beverages; and Wine.com.
So, if you’re young or just young at heart, now might be a good time to invest in some wine for future enjoyment.
John Brown is also a novelist. His latest book – Augie’s Wine –is now available to order online or at his website wordsbyjohnbrown.com. His first two books– Augie’s War and Augie’s World – are also available online and at bookstores around the state. You can find out more about his novels, and review all his archived Vines & Vittles columns at wordsbyjohnbrown.com
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