We talk a lot about aging wine. Cellar it. Give it time. Let it develop. But does it actually work? Do aged wines genuinely taste better than when they were young?
We’ve heard your feedback — when we taste current releases, we can only judge what’s in the glass right now. We can guess where a wine might go, but we can’t prove it. So Different Drop sent us six wines they’ve aged in their own cellars to put it to the test.
Six wines. All aged. All blind. No prices, no labels, no context. Just the glass.
Here’s what happened:
→ A sparkling wine that tasted like strawberries and cream — one of us offered $100 and wanted 12 bottles
→ A white wine that split the room — one taster loved it, one thought it was flat, nobody guessed the variety
→ A red that screamed cardamom and spice but couldn’t quite fill out the mid-palate
→ A wine one person scored at $25 for one bottle and another scored at $80 for 12 — genuinely opposite reactions
→ A tannic, structured red that had one taster reaching for $150 and another walking away after one sip
→ A fortified that united all three of us for the first time in the lineup
The price reveals were brutal. We lowballed almost everything. One wine retails at $250 — our highest offer was $100. Another sits at $160 — someone called it at $25. The gap between what aged wine costs and what it tastes like blind is genuinely humbling.
We also get into some bigger questions along the way — does maturation by a retailer feel different to doing it yourself? Is there a sweet spot where aged wines peak before they flatten out? And why do some wines built for aging still not deliver after a decade?
Think you know aged wine better than us? Pause before each reveal and make your call.
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#wine #blindtasting #agedwine #cellaredwine #winetasting #australianwine #barolo #grenache #sparkling #fortified #wineducation
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Wine #1 – https://www.differentdrop.com/products/2008-house-of-arras-ej-carr-late-disgorged
Wine #2 – https://www.differentdrop.com/products/2015-jamsheed-garden-gully-riesling
Wine #3 – https://www.differentdrop.com/products/2014-mount-mary-quintet
Wine #4 – https://www.differentdrop.com/products/2018-vanguardist-rende-grenache
Wine #5 – https://www.differentdrop.com/products/2018-josetta-saffirio-barolo-docg
Wine #6 – https://www.differentdrop.com/products/2007-stanton-killeen-vintage-fortified
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TIMESTAMPS
00:00 – Introduction!
00:42 – 2008 House of Arras EJ Carr Late Disgorged
02:00 – 2015 Jamsheed Garden Gully Riesling Museum Release
02:57 – 2014 Mount Mary Quintet
03:53 – 2018 Vanguardist Rende Grenache
04:42 – 2018 Josetta Saffirio Barolo DOCG
05:43 – 2007 Stanton & Killeen Vintage Fortified
06:42 – Group Chat!
14:08 – Wine Of The Week!
24 Comments
1st B^)
Would be interesting to get similar vintages with a few years apart from each other and comparing them. Thanks for the video!
The most expensive bottle of wine I have ever bought, rarely goes above £10 retail. Guess I have a lot to learn! UK
Isn't Barolo supposed to age in bottle for at least 10-15 years? A 2018 seems still too young
Cool vid. Is it harder to evaluate the prices with extra bottle age? We just did a northern Rhône Blanc vertical Saturday with an 06, 11, 16 and 21. Of the eight of us there 7 loved the 06. It was stunning and still had plenty of life left. Dessert included a 75 Grenache from Maury, 59 Sauternes and 1902 PX. Wine is so cool and such a living drink. cheers
Proving yet again how overpriced some Australian classics are. Too much captive support from professional tasters who need to be more balanced.and confident.
Maybe do six different fortified wines. Port and Sherry could do 6 of each but what about Macvin, Banyuls, Madeira, Marsala, Vermouth, South African and Australian fortified wines?
Great to finally see a bit of Australian sweet stuff in the lineup, Rutherglen finally getting a mention! Would be fun to see you guys try a bit more stuff out of North East Victoria, though I guess the rutherglen reds are very much not your style given the preference for livelier reds! I'd really like to see a little bit of King Valley make it onto the channel, I love the focus on italian varietals and some really great value whites!
ouch! aging wines is overrated, old school, pointless and British invented😅
I think for most wines, like 90%, and most peoples palette's, no aging doesn't make them better. For one, it takes care and handling to age them correctly, and that rarely happens unless you do it yourself. And secondly, for most people they want to enjoy their wine as a party piece and that's hard with an age wine, unless they're all wine nerds. Most people don't give a crap about tertiary characteristics, they just want it to taste good. So IMO, wine should be opened within 3-5 years of making it, at the max.
You aged very well for the opening image – enjoyed the ageing video and was surprised on your mount Mary view – am a fan of the blend and find that it ages well
From the UK and enjoyed a vertical tasting of Mount Mary 2016, 2018 and 2020. It cost less then you guys pay in Australia and I thought it was one of the best wines I have had from down under.
Good idea that would’ve been better if you’d also tried the current release of the same label to compare
Like Gene Krupa in a stupor, your pigmun has no brain, you are insane. You are Carl Hooper
After watching this video and the Blewitt Springs video Im starting to think that maybe you guys dont really like grenache
Would it be possible to add the location (where the wine is from) in addition to the front-of-label details? Maybe in parentheses, for those of us who like wine but aren’t wine experts 😂
I had a 2014 Mount Mary over the christmas break and it was sublime. Complex and tons of primary fruits – cherry, blackberry. It took a good 3 hour decant to come alive though.
Love your tastings. Very honest.
Enjoyed Agustina here! On the Mount Mary, you guys never seem that impressed with Yarra Valley cab so wasn't surprised. Personally find it exceptionally elegant however at that age.
Shame that Mt Mary looked a little sleepy, had a 76’ Wynns Black Label last week that was amazing 🤩
Interesting that you next Gen crew low balled many of the wines…there’s something in that, but not sure what 🤔 not surprising, low apparent knowledge on Rutherglen although the WSet Diploma candidate should have been all over it 😅. All up mostly your Dad’s wines, all forgiven 😂 love your work 😊
As a long time follower of WFTP/Bottle Shock, I know this is the whole point of these videos, but this is another great example of the benefits of blind tasting – the great equaliser! There were a few big name wines in that line up so as always, it was great to get your unbiased take
Wow
Buyer beware of the dirty secrets of wine producers. Besides some chemicals, other additives can find their way into a bottle of wine for the manufacturer to keep a standard mouthfeel, color and flavor profile. Food coloring, commercial yeast, sugar and acidifiers are some of those extra ingredients that help give consumers exactly what they are expecting from a specific brand. Some of those names include gum arabic, activated carbon, ammonium phosphate, alumino-silicates, ascorbic acid, citric acid, copper sulfate, polyoxythylene 40, dimethyl dicarbonate, carbohydrase, oak chips, tannin and, my personal favorite, the mysterious mega purple. But why don't I see "mega purple" or "polyoxythylene 40" listed anywhere on my wine bottle? The reason is because there are no rules for labeling wine. Its all too keep wine cheap no matter the cost to health.