For those considering starting their own wine collection, there are few things that can compare to the elegance of a well-aged wine. Uncorking a prized bottle on a special occasion is one of life’s sublime pleasures.

Wine is alive. It ages and evolves based on numerous environmental factors. As satisfying as it is to open a great bottle, nothing is more disappointing than waiting years to uncork a wine, only to discover that somewhere along the way it has lost its luster. Still, with a little knowledge, the casual collector can go a long way toward safeguarding precious wines without the daunting expense of a temperature-controlled wine cellar. As a living organism, wine’s natural habitat is in a cool, dark, moist, and calm place. In practice, this means controlling temperature, light, humidity, and vibration when storing your wine.

Ironically, many people keep their wine in the absolute worst possible location—the kitchen. While wine may go beautifully with food, it goes terribly with the extremes of temperature, light, and vibration encountered in the average kitchen. Even for wines meant to drink young, a brief stay in a wine rack on a stove-side counter, or on top of a vibrating refrigerator, can have a negative impact.

Temperature

Temperature is the single most important factor to guarantee the longevity of collectible wines. Though experts quibble over the ideal storage temperature, citing a range between 45 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit, 55 degrees is close to ideal. Temperature sets the pace at which wine ages. Too cool, and the process will slow to an almost non-existent crawl. Too hot, and you risk cooking the wine or popping the cork. A temperature near 55 degrees ensures a slow and steady aging process, giving complex wines time to fully integrate their maturing flavors and aromatics.

While wine is generally capable of shrugging off minor fluctuations in temperature, or even gradual seasonal changes of up to 10 degrees, rapid heat spikes of more than five to 10 degrees can be harmful and should be avoided.

Light, Humidity, & Vibration

Light, humidity, and vibration can all have a negative impact on wine—though to a lesser degree than temperature. While regular household lights pose little risk, certain types of lighting, including sunlight and fluorescents, can react with proteins in wine in unpleasant ways by changing the flavor, smell, or clarity of a wine. Because of this, a lightless place is superior for storage.

A lack of humidity, or too much of it, is another contributing factor to the demise of many wines. Storing wine in an excessively dry location can cause corks to dry out and shrink. As a result, oxygen can enter the bottle, causing evaporation and spoiling the wine. Conversely, too much humidity can stimulate mold production, or simply ruin the labels on your bottles. While too much humidity is considered preferable to too little, the ideal is approximately 65 to 70%. To ascertain humidity, you can purchase a relatively inexpensive device called a hygrometer.

The last thing to consider when selecting a place to store wine is vibration. During aging, wine needs to settle and rest. Keeping your wines next to the washing machine or the skill saw might not be your best bet.

Storage

Where should you store your wine? Whether finished or unfinished, if you have one, basements are the perfect place for cellaring your wines. Once you select a cool, clean corner away from boilers, hot pipes, or machinery, lay the bottles on their sides so that the wine inside keeps the corks moist. Face labels up, so that you can recognize each wine without having to disturb the bottle.

If you don’t have a basement, consider other options. Look at your home or apartment from your wine’s perspective. Because heat rises, floors are preferable to high-up shelves, and dark closets are more appropriate than bright rooms. Cool or air-conditioned rooms are best, but if there are none available consider packing your wine in special Styrofoam shipping containers in sealed boxes to limit the effect of temperature fluctuations. If your home offers no suitable haven, store your wines elsewhere, or drink them before the warmth of summer heats their glory away.

The last thing to consider when storing wine is when to finally pop the cork. Too often, people become insanely protective of the best wines in their collection, deeming birthdays, anniversaries, and visits from old friends as somehow “unworthy.” Sooner or later, all wines lose their beauty, which may be the universe’s way of punishing people who hold on too tightly to something created for pleasurable sharing.

Drinking Windows for MacRostie Wines

In terms of aging potential, all wines are not created equal, and in fact, some wines—like our Sonoma Coast Chardonnay and Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir—are crafted to be ready upon release, or with more near-term enjoyment in mind. Blended to be fruit-forward and aromatically expressive when released, Winemaker Heidi Bridenhagen recommends opening our Sonoma Coast Chardonnay within 2 to 3 years of release, with a cellaring window of 3 to 5 years for our Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir.

When cellaring our single-vineyard MacRostie Chardonnays, Heidi suggests opening a bottle within the first 5 years to gauge the wine’s evolution, with an overall drinking window of 8 to 10 years. While our vineyard-designate Pinot Noirs generally follow a similar timeline to their Chardonnay counterpart, most have the potential to age an additional couple of years for an overall drinking window of up to 10 to 12 years.

Thoughtfully crafted to be two of the most cellar-worthy wines in our portfolio, our pinnacle The Key Chardonnay can easily age for up to a decade, and The Loch Pinot Noir has the potential to reward cellaring up to 15 years. Part of what makes these wines so age-worthy is the fact that they are often higher in acid and somewhat lower in alcohol. In addition, when blending The Loch and The Key, Heidi selects prized barrels that showcase more floral and earth notes—qualities that develop depth and richness with age.

What to Expect from an Aged MacRostie Chardonnay or Pinot Noir

When a high-quality Chardonnay ages, it transforms. As the freshness and fruit-forward character recede, the color of the wine can change to a deeper, more golden hue. Along with this visual cue, richer, mellower tones can emerge, as well as more aromas and flavors of honey, caramel, and even sherry.

For age-worthy Pinot Noirs, it is not uncommon for more primary red and blue fruit notes to change to denser plum and earth characteristics. Along with these deep and complex qualities, a well-cellared Pinot will often develop more overall concentration and richness, as well as tertiary notes from barrel aging, including barrel spice and toast characteristics. While more overt oak can be overwhelming in a young wine, in older wines it can meld seamlessly, adding weight and gravitas.

Since the earliest days of civilization, wine has brought people together in joy and celebration. This is the magic of wine, and why it makes such a memorable and meaningful gift. For those who enjoy fine wine, there are few gifts more welcome. Whether it’s for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, a university graduation, a wedding, or a milestone anniversary, fine wine is a gift that will have your loved ones thinking fondly of you every time they open one of the bottles you’ve gifted.

When giving wine, it’s important to think about three things: the taste of the recipient, their experience with wine, and the significance of the event they are celebrating. This is where we come in.

Exploring fine wine and learning to appreciate its beauty is one of life’s great pleasures. Many of us still remember our first “Wow!” wine and how the experience led to a lifetime of discoveries. When gifting to newer wine drinkers, it’s important to remember that they are just beginning their journey with wine, and that journey should be a source of delight. Because they are easy to love, the classic varietals of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in our Explore Russian River Valley – AVA Duo are a wonderful and engaging place to start. Whether for a serious aficionado or a less-experienced wine drinker, our Celebrate & Sparkle – Sparkling Duo makes an unforgettable gift, while providing perfect wines for raising a toast.

For more experienced wine enthusiasts, our Night Flight – Nightwing Vineyard Duo showcases the beauty of single-vineyard Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from our acclaimed Nightwing Estate Vineyard.

Of course, the bigger the occasion, the more extravagant you may wish to be. To really make a statement while showing your gratitude and great taste, consider gifting a MacRostie Club Membership. Whether for a university graduation, a milestone birthday, or a special anniversary, a club membership will have them thinking of you each time a new box of wine arrives at their door. With three membership levels to choose from, we have the perfect club for every palate.

To make gifting easy and enjoyable, every gift set in our MacRostie Gift Shop includes ground shipping, a beautiful MacRostie logo gift box, a personalized gift note, and a gift certificate valued at $80 for an Estate House Signature tasting for two people! And of course, you can always go to our Online Wine Store, where you can curate your own personal gift sets.

A Rosé By Any Other Name

The history of rosé wines goes all the way back to ancient Greece, where many of the first recorded wines were made by crushing red and white grapes together and then watering down the resulting wine. In the sixth century, when the first grape vines from Greece were brought to what is now Southern France, rosés began to grow in popularity, offering a pleasant and vivacious alternative to red or white varietal wines. Later, when the Romans came to Provence, they began exporting the region’s rosés around the Mediterranean, where the wines were quickly embraced. Historically, rosé was often considered a vin de soif, or “wine to quench thirst,” and to some extent that is still true today, though the style of the finest rosés has changed dramatically.

A Change in Style: From Sweet to Dry

For many older generations of Americans, rosé meant White Zinfandel or perhaps Mateus or Lancers—sweet, pink wines made from inexpensive grapes. While this style was once hugely popular, by the late 1980s and early 1990s, rosé had earned a reputation as an unserious, mass-produced wine. This began to change in the 2000s. As more Americans began to be exposed to drier French rosés, they discovered how beautifully vibrant and refreshing they can be. Winemakers in the US took notice and were soon exploring drier, more complex, and graceful expressions of rosé, using new winemaking techniques, new methods, and new grape varietals.

The Grapes

While the ancient Greeks mixed red and white grapes together to make their blush wines, modern rosés are generally made exclusively from red grapes. While rosés can be made from almost any red grapes, many of the finest modern American rosés are made from the traditional Rhône grapes (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre) or Pinot Noir. At MacRostie, Pinot Noir is our grape of choice when making rosé because it produces such a beautifully crisp and vibrant wine with enticing aromas and notions of graceful red fruit.

Saignée or Direct Press

The great majority of modern rosés are made using either the direct press or saignée methods. The direct press method means that the grapes are picked earlier at lower ripeness and lower Brix (sugar) levels. Once the grapes are pressed, the juice is quickly removed from the skins and seeds, yielding a wine with a light and delicate pink color. Because the grapes are picked earlier, they have very elegant aromas and flavors, with lovely acidity that adds structure and mouthfeel. In contrast, with the saignée method the grapes are allowed to ripen as they would for making a still Pinot Noir bottling. Once the grapes are pressed, some of the light-colored juice is drained off to be used for making rosé. Because these grapes were allowed to ripen more, they have higher Brix and more developed fruit flavors.

While most winemakers choose one method or the other, being the innovator that she is, our Winemaker, Heidi Bridenhagen uses both to build layers of flavor. “Rosé is a fun, yet challenging, wine to make,” she says. “Achieving the right color is all about timing and vineyard choice. Color is the first lure of this wine, and it is crucial to have it just right. To give the wine fruit aromatics, a round mid-palate, fresh acidity, and a poignant finish, 45% of the fruit went directly to press with the other 55% produced using the saignée method. Heidi also allowed a range of skin contact from 2-to-48 hours to vary the amount of color in each lot. The wine also benefitted by fermenting and aging in stainless steel tanks, which underscores the vintage’s lovely fruit aromas. The result is a beautifully elegant and dry rosé, with lifted tangerine and watermelon aromas, as well as a fun aroma that brings to mind youthful memories of bubblegum. On the palate, bright, crisp acidity is balanced by richer layers of ripe apricot and cantaloupe, resulting in a wine that is refreshingly smooth and ideal for enjoying during fun, al fresco gatherings.