Can an Out of Balance Wine Taste Better Over Time?

Somm Training

I was taught that wines made out of balance, never come around with age. Out of balance – always out of balance! When the tannins, acidity, fruit and alcohol are not complementary in a wine, they will all resolve at a similar rate and never be harmonious. I have always selected young wines to age in my cellar by this measure. Bordeaux wine (in particular) can shut down for a year(s) until ready for drinking, but I have never experience something as traumatic as this.

The Experience

This is a wine I have history with. I was so looking forward to tasting this after some age in the bottle. It was gorgeous, with great potential when tasted out of the barrel.  We drank our first bottle about five years ago, after 8 years in my cellar. Gosh, what a mess of a wine. We opened the second bottle about two years ago and it was even worse. All we experienced was alcohol and acidity! Well, we popped the last bottle a few weeks ago and SURPRISE! Please find my tasting note below:

2005 St. Supery Cabernet Franc

Napa Valley, CA

This was the last bottle of three, with an interesting personal history. Tasted this wine in the barrel prior to bottling back in 2005. Amazing wine in the barrel. The first two bottles drunk over the last five years were an awful mess. My first experience with a wine this out of balance significantly improving with time. The first two bottles had very noticeable alcohol, extreme acidity and fruit in the background. Apparently, this disjointed wine needed time to come together. Just popped the last bottle and it was beautiful! Fruit forward nose of blackberry, plum and mint. Palate is soft and inviting. Approach is just barely fruit forward following the nose. The alcohol has become integrated and the very high acidity has softened. The tannins have resolved leaving both structure and mouthfeel, without astringency. The fruit persists into a long finish. What was unpleasant before, has flipped a switch and reached its potential. First time I have experienced a mess of a wine coming together over time. It took 13 years of awful tasting wine for this to finally reach its drinking window. I have heard similar stories, but never experienced a radical transformation myself. If you are holding a bottle, this is your time. Let me know if you have had the same experience.