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Buying fine wine is one thing – but how do you look after it? From wine clinics to advice on cellaring and decanting, Penfolds offer a unique after-sales service
This section is taken from the fourth edition of The Rewards of Patience - A drinking and cellaring guide to Penfolds wines by Adrian Read and Andrew Caillard MW
PENFOLDS WINE CLINICS
The Wine Clinic program is a unique Penfolds undertaking. Wine Clinics offer buyers of Penfolds wines an extraordinary form of after-sales service and have given Penfolds greater experience in recorking than any other wine company in the world.
Some 6000 people have brought a total of more than 30,000 bottles to the 44 Clinics held between 1991, when the program began, and 1998. The sixth series of Clinics will be held in 2000.
Clinics offer the owners of Penfolds reds 15 years and older the opportunity to have their wines assessed by a winemaker and, if necessary, opened, tasted, topped up, recorked and recapsuled on the spot. Bottles in acceptable condition receive a special Clinic back label certifying the soundness of the wine, signed by a winemaker and endorsed by Langton's, the Australian wine auction company associated with Christie's.
The Wine Clinic program adds an important dimension to the rewards of patience ideal, demonstrating practically how serious Penfolds is about protecting the quality of its premium red wines as they age.
The problem is cork failure (not cork taint). If a cork is going to fail, and some inevitably do, it commonly does so when the wine is around 15 years old. Typically, wine will soak right through the cork or find a way between the cork and the glass, and perhaps begin to leak out. The level of wine in the bottle will fall below the base of the neck.
The evidence of the Clinics is that if such wines are'brought in for a check-up' before the level falls much further, there is a strong likelihood that wine quality will be unaffected. Topped up and recorked, bottles with the potential to age for another 15 or 20 years can simply be returned to the cellar.
The Clinic program builds direct relationships between Penfolds and its most dedicated customers. The Clinics also have an educational component, adding to knowledge in all sectors of the market and among the winemakers as well.
As Andrew Caillard MW says in the 1999 edition of Langton's Australian Fine Wine Investment Guide, the Clinic program has made it difficult to sell Penfolds bottles with low levels at auction. The market knows that an expert topping up and recorking service is freely available — as long as the wine is tasted and found to be in acceptable condition.
In fact, by weeding out unacceptable bottles, Penfolds is tipping the scales towards ensuring that patience does bring rewards, not expensive disappointments.
CELLARING AND SERVING
As far as Penfolds is concerned, your investment in fine wine pays dividends in the form of drinking pleasure. The rewards of patience are to be found in the glass, not in the wallet or the bank.
Information on cellaring and serving is available from many sources. However, Penfolds can pass on some lessons learned from experience over the years on the storage and service of red wine.
Double-decanting
There are two reasons to decant a wine. One is to separate the clear wine from the natural sediment that may have formed in the bottle as the wine has aged. The other is to stimulate or enliven the wine by exposing it to air.
Penfolds is all for decanters. There is nothing like a beautiful antique claret jug or a sleek, modern, crystal decanter to create a sense of occasion when you serve a fine old wine. But you need not feel deprived if you cannot do this. It is a luxury.
It is just as good (better in terms of wine identification at the table) to decant the wine into any clean receptacle, preferably a glass jug with volume markings on the side, rinse out the bottle with filtered or bottled water, and immediately pour the wine back into its own bottle using a clean funnel.
This is called double-decanting. It gives the wine a double dose of oxygen, and you can loosely recork the bottle if it will be some time before it is served. You will probably find it best to double-decant away from the dining table, in a place where there is plenty of light.
Leave the bottle upright near where it will be opened for as long as possible, at least a few hours and preferably a day or two, even longer. This will enable any fine sediment to settle.
Take care to minimise movement of the bottle as you open it. Pour the wine carefully but steadily at an even rate into your jug in a single movement with as little glugging as possible. The idea is to minimise the likelihood of the sediment being stirred back into the wine.
You can do this over a candle or a small torch so you can stop pouring when you see the sediment enter the shoulder of the bottle, or you can follow Max Schubert's example. Beforehand, simply mark your jug at the 720ml point and stop pouring when the liquid reaches that level. Don't waste the last 25-30ml, with the sediment in it. Add it to your gravy — or should we say sauce?
The only exception is very old bottles, which if possible should be decanted immediately before they are served. The ethereal bouquet of a fine old wine near the end of its life may initially seem strong, but it can fade quickly once in contact with air.
Corks and corkscrews
Being a product of nature, corks vary. Some seem dense and hard, others relatively soft and spongy. Corks also respond individually to the effects of time and cellaring conditions.
Some of the problems experienced when removing corks — especially from old bottles — can be avoided with the use of a good corkscrew.
The best types enable you to pull the cork straight up, without dragging it sideways. Also, look for a strong, wire screw that spirals fairly tightly and has a diameter sufficient to gain good purchase on the cork. Avoid any corkscrew whose business end is a pointed rod with a thread cut into it.
Another type of extractor that can be useful has two thin, flat, flexible arms, one slightly longer than the other. The arms are inserted on either side of the cork, between it and the glass, and the implement rocked back and forth until the cork is fully embraced. The cork can then be removed with a side-to-side, twisting motion.
At Wine Clinics Penfolds uses the widely-available, standard table model Screwpull corkscrew. This has a Teflon-coated wire screw and a separate, rigid frame that guides the screw into the centre of the cork and pulls it out automatically; you simply keep turning until the cork separates from the bottle.
Cellaring
The number one cellaring myth in Australia, and perhaps elsewhere, is that bottles should be turned every so often. It is quite possible to guess how this myth may have gained currency, but all that needs to be said is that it is completely wrong.
What is certain is that anyone wishing to cellar Penfolds reds for any length of time will seriously prejudice their quality and condition if storage conditions are poor. Heat is the enemy. Beware of wide, repeated, day-to-night variations in summer. Slow, gradual temperature change over the seasons is not so bad, but it's still not ideal.
The ideal cellar temperature is a constant 14ºC to 16ºC, with a relative humidity of 70 to 75 per cent. The space should be dry, well ventilated and free of odour and vibration. If the wine in your cellar is a significant investment, it is worth using a thermometer to monitor summer temperatures, which should remain below 18ºC.
A simple wooden or metal racking system will keep wines well ventilated and provide easy, single-bottle access. Bottles should be stored on their sides, ideally with the neck sloping slightly upwards so that the cork remains wet, the headspace'bubble' is in the shoulder and any sediment collects towards the base of the bottle.
If the right conditions don't occur naturally at your place, air-conditioning or temperature-controlled wine storage cabinets are high-cost options. Alternatively, keep only your drinking wine at home and rent appropriate space for the rest of your cellar or borrow cellar space from a trusted friend.
Wide temperature variation means, at best, that your wine will develop more quickly than it otherwise would. At worst it means ruination. Anyone cellaring fine wine in a warm or hot climate would be foolish not to take the heat factor into account.
Serving temperature
The European idea of serving red wine at room temperature works well in cooler climates. But in Australia or California it could mean serving shiraz or cabernet at over 30ºC in summer. This is too warm and can ruin the experience of drinking a fine red wine.
The bottle should be cool to the touch, but not cold: a 'cellar temperature' of, say, 15ºC is ideal. Do not be concerned if this means cooling red wine in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour.
Temperatures for serving whites are not so critical, but beware of over-chilling, which tends to deaden flavour. It is best to chill white wine as it is needed, either in a refigerator or in an ice bucket for 20-30 minutes with a mixture of ice and water. Chardonnay, particularly, is often served too cold. The wine's real flavour will only begin to emerge when the chill comes off.
Glassware
Glassware can make a big difference to the way a wine tastes. Try the same wine out of a tumbler and a fine, thin-walled wine glass. The wine always seems to taste better out of a good glass. Expert opinion is growing that these differences are not merely psychological.
While there are many different glass designs, they tend to be driven by fashion rather than the needs of serious wine drinkers. Nevertheless some companies, notably Riedel, have developed fine glasses that clearly enhance the taste of particular wine styles.
A good, all-purpose wine glass need not be expensive. It should have a total capacity of about 220ml and be slightly tapered or tulip-shaped at the top of the bowl. This helps to concentrate the aroma or bouquet when the wine is swirled around in the glass before nosing. After all, much of what we 'taste' is really what our nose tells us about the wine.
Make sure your glasses are clean, which ideally means washing them separately, rinsing them in hot water and avoiding the use of detergent.
Glasses should be stored upright and aired before use. Do not use glasses straight out of a wooden cupboard or sideboard, or straight from a cardboard box. Sniff a glass straight out of a cupboard or box and you can easily detect the musty or cardboardy smell.
back to the Penfolds Experience
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