Acidity and wine age
Credit: WikiCommons/Steffen Hausmann
(Image credit: WikiCommons/Steffen Hausmann)

Acidity and wine age – ask Decanter

Jim Boyce, Wolverhampton, asks: Can you settle an argument about acidity and wine age? A friend says that acidity will remain constant, but I say that it will soften. Who is right?

Stephen Skelton MW, for Decanter, replies: In technical terms, the level of acidity in bottled wine remains almost constant with age. But that’s not to say that the perception of acidity on your palate does not change.

Esters can alter our perception of sharpness – they are compounds formed during ageing, due to the reaction between alcohol and acid in the wine. Tannins and phenolics are also responsible for making a wine taste harsh, and these will drop out as sediment as a wine ages and help to soften a wine’s taste.

Stephen Skelton MW is a consultant to the English wine industry and is involved with planting vineyards for the production of sparkling wine.

Edited for Decanter.com by Laura Seal.

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Stephen Skelton MW
Stephen Skelton MW

Stephen Skelton MW started his career in wine in 1975. After 12 months at Schloss Schönborn in Germany’s Rheingau wine-growing region and two terms at Geisenheim wine school, he returned to the UK in 1977 to establish Tenterden Vineyards in Kent, where he made wine for 23 vintages. He was also winemaker at Lamberhurst Vineyards from 1988 to 1991. Skelton is a consultant to the English wine industry and is involved with planting vineyards for the production of sparkling wine. He became a Master of Wine in 2003.