In article >, says
....
>
>Roberta wrote:
>
>> I am looking for somewhere that there is perhaps a chart showing
>> vintage/area/best years to drink or something like that.
>
>Roberta, you are correct that wines change with time and may taste
>better or worse from year to year. The only universal truth is that all
>wines will eventually taste bad if kept long enough ;-) The problem is
>that each wine is different in how it ages, so generalizations are
>difficult. Even the experts can't always get it right. However, that
>doesn't stop them from generalizing, as you can see he
>http://www.erobertparker.com/info/vintagechart1.asp
>
>
>> Caymus 1995 Cabernet
>
>A good wine from a good year. If it's been kept in a cool place (<60°
>F), it should be drinking well now but also keep for a few more years.
>If it's been stored at a higher temperature, open it soon. In any
>event, you should feel free to open it sooner rather than later.
>
>HTH
>Mark Lipton

Roberta,

One little "aside" to Mark's excellent answer. A bit of the aging of a wine is
predicated on the taster's personal preferences. Some like more tannic reds in
their youth, rather than the more often prefered mellow, aged variety. Same
for whites - some like them young with every fruit nuance, while others like
them older with more incorporated elements, however with a bit less fruit,
than upon release. Only by sampling wines, either in tastings featuring older
v younger wines, or by purchasing, say a case, and then trying a bottle over
time, will one truly know what they like best, and it is likely to differ,
depending on the wine itself. Example: my wife likes younger Vintage Ports,
while I think she is experiencing them far too young. However, she likes them
that way, so I don't force my desire to age them for decades on ALL of the
VP's - each purchase gets some set aside for me much later, but a few bottles
get opened early on, for her.

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