Which Are The Best Wines To Age 20 Years (& Longer?)

by Elaine Lau

Aging wine for 20 years or longer can be a rewarding experience for any wine lover!

Aged wine typically develops exceptional flavors over time. The finest ones can even bring you high returns on investment.

But, not every wine is suitable for aging.

Let’s look at the wine styles you can age for over 20 years, their characteristics, the best wine bottles to buy, and how to buy and store ageable fine wine through Vinovest.

Wine Styles That Can Age 20 Years And More

Typically dry red wine, some sweet wines, and fortified wines are the main styles suited for long-term aging:

1. Dry Red Wine

Dry red wine is best suited for aging. You can age wine bottles like these the longest due to their high acidity and tannin levels.

Dry red wines you can age for 20+ years:

Aglianico: 20 years
Cabernet Sauvignon: 10-20 years
Nebbiolo: 20 years
Pinot Noir (high quality): 20 years
Red Bordeaux: 15-20 years
Sangiovese: 20-50 years
Tempranillo: 10-20 years

2. Sweet Wines

Dessert wine contains high sugar levels, which act as a preservative. The red dessert wine styles are more age-worthy than their white counterparts since they have higher tannin levels.

Sweet wines you can age for 20 years or longer:

Chenin Blanc: 30+ years
German Riesling: 15-25 years
Hungarian Tokaji Aszu: 20-30 years
Recioto della Valpolicella (sweet red wine): 25-50 years
Sauternes: 15-40 years

3. Fortified Wine

To make fortified wine, producers add spirit (like brandy or whiskey) to the base wine during the vinification process. This helps the wine last longer and improves the flavor during aging.

Fortified wine you can age for 20 years or longer:

Banyuls: 50–100 years
Madeira: 150 years
Fortified Muscat: 50 years
Sherry: 75 years
Vintage Port: 50–100 years
Vin Santo: 50 years

Note: Some wines won’t improve with bottle age and are best enjoyed young. These young wine bottles include sparkling wine, white wine like Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Moscato, and some white Burgundy wines.

10 Amazing Bottles To Age 20 Years (Or Longer!)

These are some of the best wine bottles you can store in your cellar for 20 years or longer:

2010 Casanova di Neri Tenuta Nuova, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Italy ($267)
2010 Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Tuscany, Italy ($70)
2018 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, USA ($4,983)
2010 F E Trimbach Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile, Alsace, France ($72)
2015 Chateau Cheval Blanc, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru, France ($1,010)
2015 Chateau d'Yquem, Sauternes, France ($439)
2015 Domaine Huet Vouvray 'Cuvee Constance' Moelleux, Loire, France ($220)
2016 Quinta do Noval Vintage Port, Portugal ($100)
2015 Giacomo Conterno Monfortino, Barolo Riserva DOCG, Italy ($1,305)
Kopke CNK Special Anniversary 380 Very Old Tawny Port, Portugal ($1,241)

1. 2010 Casanova di Neri Tenuta Nuova, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Italy ($267)

This Casanova di Neri vintage wine received 100 points from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate and Jame Suckling.

It has dark fruit, crushed minerals, and spice aromas accompanied by polished tannins and bright acidity.

2. 2010 Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Tuscany, Italy ($70)

Made with the Sangiovese grape, this Italian wine is the best wine to age 20 years (or more.) It has spice, cherry, and cured meat aromas. It also has bright fruit flavour notes and incredible balance and grip.

3. 2018 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, USA ($4,983)

This New World wine received an astounding 100 points from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, a clear indicator that it’s the best wine to age 20 years or more!

It features an aromatic nose of black cherry, blackberry, and licorice notes. This vintage wine also has a finely textured palate of intense red and black fruit flavor notes.

4. 2010 F E Trimbach Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile, Alsace, France ($72)

Here is an exquisite wine awarded 92 points by Wine Spectator. It has delicious apricot, candied peaches, and pineapple aromas accompanied by intense minerality and ripe acidity.

5. 2015 Chateau Cheval Blanc, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru, France ($1,010)

This fine red blend, made with the Merlot and Cabernet Franc grape varietals, has baking spices, smoked meat, and ripe black cherry aromas. The palate is rich with fine tannins and black fruit flavor notes.

6. 2015 Chateau d'Yquem, Sauternes, France ($439)

This iconic fine wine was given 100, 99, and 98 points by Wine Advocate, James Suckling, and Wine Spectator, respectively.

The Chateau d’Yquem 2015 vintage has an incredible nose of pineapple, lemon tart, and jasmine notes. The palate is fresh with layers of tropical fruit and earthy hints.

7. 2015 Domaine Huet Vouvray 'Cuvee Constance' Moelleux, Loire, France ($220)

Here we have a delicious dessert wine with apricot and fig aromas. It has orange blossom and green tea flavor notes followed by a seamless, long finish.

8. 2016 Quinta do Noval Vintage Port, Portugal ($100)

This vintage Port has fig, currant, and Turkish coffee aromas. It also has grippy tannins, mint, sweet cassis, and dark fruit flavor notes.

9. 2015 Giacomo Conterno Monfortino, Barolo Riserva DOCG, Italy ($1,305)

Here is an Italian wine with a sweet red cherry, truffle, and balsamic vinegar nose. The palate features dark fruit and spicy flavour notes, smooth tannins, and a long, complex finish.

10. Kopke CNK Special Anniversary 380 Very Old Tawny Port, Portugal ($1,241)

This delicious Tawny Port wine has aromas of fig, spice, almond, and coffee. The palate has cinnamon, jelly, and resin flavors accompanied by a powerful acidity and a long finish.

Now, let’s find out what makes a fine wine age-worthy.

Characteristics of Age Worthy Wine Bottles

Double down on your wine education and find out the key characteristics that make for an age worthy wine bottle:

Good Structure
Good Balance
Wine Producer
Vintage and Climate Conditions

1. Good Structure

The wine structure includes the following components:

Acidity: Generally, wine loses its acidity over time, so to withstand 20+ years of aging, a good wine should have high acidity levels.
Tannins (Polyphenols): Tannins give red wine its hue, and make it stable and more likely to age longer. The more tannins present, the slower the wine will oxidize.
Sweetness: A dessert wine bottle with high sweetness levels is more likely to age well since sugar acts as a preservative.
Alcohol level: Choose a wine that has an alcohol by volume (ABV) of less than 13.5%. High ABV in nonfortified wine can affect its structure negatively and give it an unpleasant vinegary taste. The alcohol in fortified wine stabilizes the drink, ensuring it ages for a long time.
Low Volatile Acidity (VA): VA is how you measure a fine wine’s gaseous acids (produced during fermentation), which give the wine its vinegary smell and taste. The VA levels vary depending on the wine style. However, stick to wines that have VA of less than 0.6 g/L (anything higher than 0.7 g/L will harm the wine’s structure.)

2. Good Balance

When there’s a balance between the tannin, acidity, ABV, sweetness, and fruit concentrate, the wine’s aging potential is much greater. If these components are disproportionate, the wine will taste weak and diluted and won’t have a substantial shelf life.

3. Wine Producer

Another aspect to consider when selecting an age-worthy fine wine is the producer’s history. Seasoned wine producers will:

Have sound knowledge of enology
Source grape varieties from vineyards with exceptional terroir
Have a good track record of winemaking (for at least 15 vintages)

4. Vintage and Climate Conditions

When choosing age-worthy wine bottles, keep in mind that certain vintages have better longevity than others.

Why?

The weather conditions vary year to year and this affects the grape growth and ripening. In turn, this impacts the resulting wines and how likely they are to age well.

So make sure to research the climate and growing conditions of the vintage before you make a purchase.

However, remember that, in general, grapes from cooler climates produce more age-worthy wines than grape varieties from warmer regions. (Wine from a warm wine region, like Argentina, tastes great at the start but loses acidity fast due to how the grapes ripened.)

Now here’s an important question:

What’s the best way to store your age-worthy wine bottles?

How To Store Wine So It Ages Well For Decades

How you store your fine wine bottles can affect their longevity. Let’s discover your best wine storage options:

1. Professional Storage Service

If you plan to have an extensive portfolio of collectible wines, a wine investment company like Vinovest is your best option.

Vinovest helps you buy, store, and sell fine wines worldwide. Plus, it offers superb wine storage facilities.

Here’s why Vinovest is a great solution to invest in aged wine bottles and store them:

It stores your fine wine in bonded warehouses close to the best wine regions in the world.
The warehouses maintain the perfect humidity, vibration, light, and temperature levels at all times.
Wines are under 24/7 surveillance.
You’re provided a comprehensive insurance policy that protects your wine against theft, loss, and breakage.
Power back-ups are available to maintain optimal wine storage conditions if the primary power source fails.
The best part? You don’t need to worry about expanding your wine cellar when your collection grows. Vinovest will take care of all your bottles, hassle-free!

2. Wine Fridge

A wine fridge is a good option for storing your aging wine as you can configure the temperature settings. Look for a wine fridge that can hold 20 to 100+ wine bottles.

3. Wine Cellar in a Cool Basement

A wine cellar in a cool basement is a good storage option.

A wine cellar would have the climate control mechanism to maintain ideal temperature and humidity levels for aging fine wine.

Alternatively, you can make a custom wine cellar to suit your specific needs.

Build A Collection of Age Worthy Wine Bottles

A good wine bottle with exceptional aging potential can evolve in flavor and increase in value over time.

So, you’ve got to store it under optimal conditions.

If you’re a wine lover who wants to build an enviable wine collection of aged wine bottles, Vinovest is the best place to start. The platform provides you with a reliable, hassle-free way to build your portfolio and enjoy the best protection for your wines.