How old is old?

I may have asked this question before, but I’m getting old. In fact I would bet that I have, but I’ve forgotten.

What were we talking about?

That’s right, old wine.

When does a wine begin to be old? For me the frontier seems to have remained the vintage with which I really started my cellar: 1982.

I know that this is of course wine dependant, and for the sake of argument I’m talking about the wines I drink, and have from that era, so Barolo, Bordeaux, and California Cabernet. And while I would choose a different threshold for each of those, roughly my perception of old wine begins with 1982 and older.

The funny thing is that this has been the case now for roughly 20 years, if not longer. I think I like to think of myself as being younger than I am so I have frozen the threshold. My tastings certainly prove that younger wines are now old.

So what do you think?

What are old wines?

I wanna go to Florida doesn’t count.

I have been appreciating fine wine for over 30 years but what I consider to be old is essentially frozen in time. So 1982 is not old in my perception but anything before that is, however illogical it sounds. My brain is programmed that way.

Gregory,

I’ve contemplated this question myself, and have concluded there are so many variables, it’s impossible to generalize for wine. I can do so for a single bottle of a single wine of a single vintage, but that’s about all. For example, I once bought a bunch of 25 or 30 year old LDH GR Tondonia to drink while my younger vintages rested. It was far too young to my taste. My ‘63 ports still seem too young as they approach 60 years, and my ‘59 Loire chenin blancs weren’t described as old by anyone at a blind tasting. There’s not a single 2008 champagne that I’ve felt was beyond its infancy.
For me, old is where the earthy mushroomy notes dominate any fruity notes for reds, and when nutty, earthy coffee or cidery notes do the same in whites or champagnes.

Cheers,
Warren

For me it’s when you start getting more of a mature wine experience than a young and fruity wine experience, and that’s roughly around 20-25 years for age-worthy wines.

Actually, that’s not “old”, it’s “mature”.

Old is where you go past that. So while some wines from the 1980s and even earlier are drinking well, they’re just older.

I’ve had maybe half a dozen 18th century wines. All Madeira. Definitely pre-Phylloxera.

I think all of us except possibly Francois will agree that’s old

When fresh fruit displayed in youth becomes hints or whiffs of dried fruits that is old wine for me.
Yes, mature wines can still display their fruit in varying degrees of intensity, but old means you have to look for it or it is not there any longer.