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We also really enjoyed this one recently. A curio, but very enjoyable! 
It depends how you enjoy your wine. We are deliberately cautious with our drink windows as we never want a member to open a wine once it is a little tired… Many styles of wine are also made to be enjoyed young when the fruit is most vibrant. However with a wine like this - it can be powerful and fruity in its youth - which many love, but if you like more complexity, spice and less overt fruit and oak then you may enjoy it more a little older…
Drink windows are guides, and we often find them a little tricky but usually we will err on the side of caution… I hope that makes sense…?
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There was some recent discussion about drink dates but I’m not sure under which topic. Anyway I have also wondered if the conservative approach is partly due to concern about unknown storage conditions. Some wines might keep perfectly well for a long time if stored in ideal conditions, but do significantly less well in someone’s kitchen or dining room where conditions are much more variable.
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Hi Andy,
Yes - I just posted a reply in “what’s in your basket” but generally I think drink dates are really helpful for lots of members, but are a little bit of a blunt instrument as we all have different preferences around the maturity levels of the wines we drink.
However you are right - as we don’t know what storage conditions might be like and whether the majority of members would enjoy very old wines, we tend to be a little more cautious so that at worst a member might enjoy a few wines perhaps a little young - but still vibrant - rather than leaving wines too long and them possibly being a little tired on opening…
Its not a precise science though - it is really our best conservative estimate, and we know many members don’t refer to our drink dates when they make their own assessments on wines that they feel confident about - which is great.
Often when we chose to open wines is part of the fun of it all for those of us that chose to keep wines for any length of time, and can be very personal.
Hope this helps a little in understanding our logic…
Best wishes
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Thanks for taking the time to reply- it was only a facetious comment, sorry if it came across as a criticism. Your response makes complete sense though and I appreciate the reasons for being cautious with the drink dates.
For those with a penchant for all things USA, and Napa in particular - we’re delighted to have a free online even with Rory and John Williams of Frog’s Leap at 5pm this Sunday (21st)
You can register your interest here:
https://www.thewinesociety.com/shop/TastingTicket.aspx?ticketCode=TG200621&tl=T3
(FYI registering interest via our website doesn’t mean you will have details shared with Zoom. It means the Events team can share pre- and post- material with you, as well as the links to Zoom and Youtube for your watching options.)
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