Wine is perishable and multifaceted chemical reactions including a wine’s acids, sugars and phenolic compounds are capable of altering the color, mouth feel, aroma and taste of the wine in a way that can be more enjoyable or pleasant to the taster. The aging of wine, and its capability to potentially enhance in quality, differentiates wine from nearly all other consumable goods. The aging of wine is influenced by many parameters such as: - vintage, grape variety, winemaking style, wine region and viticultural practices. The circumstance in which the wine is kept back after bottling can also control or influence how fine a wine ages and can require vital financial investment and time.
The Romans and ancient Greeks were aware of the prospective of aged wines. There is a renowned saying that “All wines improve with age”, but few wines actually have the capability to notably improve with age. Jancis Robinson who is a master of wines opines that only around the top 5 percent of all white wines and top 10 percent of all red wines can improve considerably with age that makes drinking more pleasurable at five years of age than at one year of age. Robinson also states that only one percent of all wine possesses the capability to improve after more than a decade. The winemaking process of white wines involves negligible skin contact which depicts that white wines contain very low amount of phenolic compounds; thereby limiting the potential of aging. There are few sparkling and ice wines which are ready to drink wines after preparation; as the producer knows that these wines won’t improve after aging. The wines containing negligible aging potential are: - Rose and Blush wines like White Zinfandel, European Table wine, Vermouth, basic Port and Sherry, Yellow Tail, Mouton Cadet etc. The wines possessing some aging potential are: - Reisling(2-30 years), Merlot(2-10 years), Chardonnay(2-6 years), Cabernet Sauvignon(4-20 years), Zinfandel(2-6 years), Syrah(4-16 years), Pinot Noir(2-8 years), Loire Valley Chenin blanc(4-30 years) etc.

There are many parameters that influences the aging of wine such as- storage condition of the bottled wine, span of exposure to oak barrels, duration of maceration or skin contact and heat fluctuations. High temperature will help the wine to age rapidly and harmful ultra-violet rays should be prevented from wines. There is more probability of having aging potential in the wine that is prepared from grapes subjected to less water prior to harvest. During the process of aging, a wine can fall into a “dumb phase” where its flavors and aromas are subdued or muted. The span of time to which this dumb phase may last varies from bottle to bottle.

The red wine aging results in converting the harsh tannins of its youth to a gentler or softer mouthfeel. As wine begins to mature, eventually it reaches a point when it is termed to be at its “peak”. This peak point is the point of maturity when the wine possess the most pleasing mouthfeel, maximum amount of complexity and softening of tannins and has not yet began to spoil or decay. The occurrence of this point is unpredictable and varies from bottle to bottle. When a wine is aged for a longer period of time, it begins to descend into decaying where the wine’s acidity becomes dominant and the fruit tastes weak and hollow.

There are many techniques for artificial aging that are being used by mankind since ancient Rome era.