Just had a bottle of Rhone and found the taste to be very sweet (strawberry jam). Do you think it's the kind of taste that will tone down with some time in the cellar? I know time in the cellar will impact tanin, not sure about how it impacts overall taste of the wine.

usually when that happens,
I whip out some pancakes and toast and make the best of it

But if you didn't like the flavor, I'd just recommend finding another bottle instead of trying to age something you didn't like, because very rarely, will you just magically like it.

It's just that I have six of them The 2009 was excellent but I am very disappointed in the 2010. Hopefully this was a fluke with this one bottle...

From the title of the thread, I thought you were going to comment or ask about how one's taste buds change as one ages.

Anyway, could be a fluke, but strawberry jam is an uncharacteristic flaw type flavor. What Rhone are we talking about? Not a Rose, I suppose. If it is a Rose, the strawberry thing is less surprising to me.

Nope a red. Technically not a Rhone but Costieres de Nimes. Oh well, at least it wasn't too expensive. I'll try decanting it for a few hours next time.

If this turns you off, don't even think of buying Shiraz.

I've also seen some pinots taste like that

GSMFAN - Strawberries and raspberries are pretty characteristic of Grenache. That's what we're having today for Thanksgiving precisely because I want those flavors.

If you're a GSM fan, I'm surprised you didn't like that wine. There are hundreds of S. Rhones that are going to be sweet and jammy. Time in the cellar isn't going to make it better.

As to how time affects the overall taste of the wine - the whole point of aging wine is to affect the overall taste. Tannin is only one component of wine that you affect by aging. But a low-acid, jammy wine isn't going to transform into something better. More likely, it will just die. You'll lose the primary fruit and have nothing. Drink them up or give them away or trade them.

quote:

Originally posted by Gsmfan:
It's just that I have six of them The 2009 was excellent but I am very disappointed in the 2010. Hopefully this was a fluke with this one bottle...

Perfect opportunity to answer your question for yourself over time. Cheap experiment. Just open one of your remaining bottles every 2-3 years and see what happens. In my experience, time in the bottle tones down the fruit. Also, bottle age often changes the stewed fruit characteristics into something more palatable, especially in Rhones.