Bigger is better

As wine professionals, we have been told for forever that big bottles age better than small ones. Magnums, double magnums and all of the larger formats going as high as 21 liters are said to hold the clarity and flavor of wine better than the standard 750ml and smaller formats. I will be the first to admit I have been skeptical of the claim.

Big bottles are great when entertaining large crowds, especially when gathering with close friends and family at the holidays or family reunions. We keep a collection of the empties from really special occasions, each signed by those gathered around our table. It is a special way to remember the most special times.

Just this past week, we gathered at a rental cabin on Lake Coeur d'Alene with Mary's family for a reunion. It has been quite some time since we were all together, so we decided to bring some of our big bottles, specifically 3 liters. 14 adults seems the perfect number for bottles that big, and we had a couple that we were concerned about their staying power for different reasons.

One of the big bottles was a 3 liter of California Chardonnay that was given to us by a winery. It had been on display in their tasting room for years. It is an understatement to say these are less than desirable storage conditions. The bottle stood upright all that time, allowing the cork to dry; it was also atop a cabinet, exposing it to more heat than other parts of the room. And the vintage of the wine was 1998!

Needless to say, we had our concerns when pulling the cork - we fully expected it to be "baked" and no doubt oxidized, well past its prime. To our surprise, the wine was more than drinkable: it was darn good. The age had made it a bit creamier than it likely was at release but the fruit was still vibrant, and the wine well-balanced with the oak held in check by firm acid. It hit all the right notes for varietal and the appellation. While 1998 was a very cool El Nino-driven vintage, which likely lent higher acid to the wine, the big bottle had to play a factor as well.

The other 3 liter we had was a Bordeaux-based blend from a Washington winery located on Red Mountain. It was from 2003 - plenty young for Bordeaux varietals - but we had the wine in our shop for some time and the cork was leaking, though not enough to really reduce the level of the wine: it was just below the bottom of the wax closure.

One of our family members is a sommelier, so adept at removing even the most challenging corks. When he started to remove the cork it shredded, coming out in dusty particles, with the large parts of the cork stuck to the side of the bottle. We thought for sure we were doomed, that the bottle would be undrinkable. Wrong for a second time. The wine was delicious, dense concentrated fruit, firm but at this point well-integrated tannin.

The theory to us now proven, on the improved age worthiness of large formats, is the reduced oxygen exposure. It is somewhat counterintuitive that the larger bottle exposes less wine to oxygen, with more wine in the bottle and the same or only slighter bigger opening at top of the bottle. Typically, the big bottles are more expensive than the multiple price of standard size bottles, partly due to the increased manufacturing cost but largely due to their superior quality and age worthiness.

During the tough economy of the last several years, wineries stopped production of alternative formats as consumers were not as willing to pay the premium. Based on our experience of the last week, we hope more will again make the big bottles of wine. We keep large formats in the shop all the time but now that we know firsthand how good they really are, coupled with how much fun it is to have them at our large gatherings we will increase the choices.

If there is a topic you would like to read about, or if you have questions on wine, you can email George@thedinnerpartyshop.com, or make suggestions by contacting the Healthy Community section at the Coeur d'Alene Press.

George Balling is co-owner with his wife Mary Lancaster of the dinner party, a wine and table top decor shop in Coeur d'Alene by Costco. George has also worked as a judge in many wine competitions; his articles are published around the country and is the wine editor for Coeur d'Alene Magazine (www.cdamagazine.com). You can learn more about the dinner party at www.thedinnerpartyshop.com. You can get all of these articles, as well as other great wine tips, by friending us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/#!/dinnerpartyshop.