The Auswine Forum

I have wines that i put away in cool place at home for 5 years now.
notice it smells really nice when bottle is open, but after 10min the wine starts to feel like lots of tannin (acid, grip)

Just want to know if it is due to the improper storage (19 - 23c).

What can i do to improve the wine?

the wines are (98, 99 Penfold 407, 389, 28) (Wynns black 99, 2000)

this seem upsetting, as I wanted to age those wine a little bit, and let it mellow (smooth)..

If you were wanting the tannin completly disolve, you probably shouldn't have bought Cabernet Sauvignon, or perhaps wait another 5yrs.
I've never seen heated storage conditions add (exaggerate) tannin in a wine. It usually softens it, but will also strip other elements of the wine.

Sakakool,

First of all, welcome to the forum.

Re the tannin, have you started drinking and THEN, after ten minutes, do you notice the tannin more? It's common that as you drink more of a wine (especially young, tannic wines), palate fatigue sets in, meaning that you don't give your mouth enough time to recover from the effects of tannin (and other effects). Tannin actually accumulates in its perceived effect, so if the wine is nice and you're getting stuck into it, your mouth may not be able to keep up and the tannin will become more noticable.

Penfolds are also notorious for adding looots of tannin to their reds, and especially well known for the ageability of their reds. You may find that a good decant and letting the wine breathe may help resolve some of those tannins, but to fully resolve you may just have to wait another decade. Try drinking them with a hearty steak or something - should match the wines well and lessen the perceived tannin.

Cheers,

thanks guys..

one other thing. I bought a 98 rosemount reserve cab sauv the other day, it was very good, smell nice, smooth (not much tannin). compare to the same wine i have in my storage, mine smell good, but lots of tannin..

I feel really bad about this whole thing. I have a few $100 bottle stuff and im just wondering if i should drink them now or cellar for a few more years(properly this time)

anyway. im looking into professional wine storage places, and start all over again..

It depends exactly what your storage conditions are like. That temperature range isn't too bad if it's over a year as opposed to a daily temperature range. If it's 19 in winter and 23 in summer, it's really not that bad and I wouldn't expect it to have any effect on the tannins. In fact, if anything, the ageing process should be sped up a little.

The most important thing in a cellar is temperature stability rather than the actual temperature. Of course, ideally, three degrees lower would be a lot better.