Aging Hirsch Wines
The wines of Hirsch Vineyards are mountain wines, distinguished by their acidic complexity, noteworthy tannins and concentration of fruit. In most vintages, our wines are expressive and drinkable soon after release. Yet due to their structure and fruit density, there is also the potential for extended aging. With time, the exuberant young fruit softens, tannins lengthen, and the wines gain additional complexity. With the lengthening of the tannins, the mid palate opens, and the mouthfeel becomes smoother and more seamless.
It's one of the great gifts of wine to see this process over time, and we strongly encourage our collectors to buy multiple bottles of their favorite Hirsch Pinots so they can experience this process themselves.
That being said, people have varying preferences when it comes to older wines. The fruit is the most noticeable change: the wines become less overtly fruity, and the flavors change from primary (fresh fruits, floral notes, herbaceous) to tertiary (earth, minerality, mushrooms, forest floor). When to drink a red wine depends greatly on what balance of primary and tertiary flavors you enjoy. If you love the fresh fruit intensity of our young Pinots, you won’t need to age them for more than a few years. If you prefer a softer, lighter, more transparent red wine with lots of non-fruit aromas, you’ll want to hold them longer. And there are many points in between.
We also recognize that not everyone is interested in or has the means to age wines. Please see the section Drinking Windows for more on this topic.
High quality storage is essential for aging wines. We recommend this website for best storage practices (it also includes an absolutely classic video of UK wine expert Steve Spurrier that should not be missed). If you don’t have the space to store wine at home, consider offsite storage. We’re happy to provide recommendations to high quality wine storage facilities in most major metropolitan areas.
In most vintages, our wines are drinkable soon after release and do not go through a shutdown period (in other words, they are expressive at all points of their life). This removes some of the stress of when to open a bottle of Hirsch Pinot: generally our wines will give you a fabulous drinking experience throughout their entire lives, although what the wine offers will change over time.
- Once or twice a decade, our site produces a more tannic vintage that requires longer to open up.
- We’re not providing an outer drinking limit, as that is highly vintage specific. Please see the section ‘Vintage Chart’ for more on that.
Drink upon release. The following wines are intended to be drinkable upon release, although they also have the ability to age.
- ‘Bohan Dillon’ Pinot Noir
- ‘Family Blend’ Estate Pinot Noir
- ‘San Andreas Fault’ Estate Pinot Noir
Begin drinking 2-4 years after release. These wines will offer a more seamless drinking experience 2 to 4 years after release. They can age for much longer and will offer greater complexity and integration over time.
- ‘West Ridge’ Estate Pinot Noir
- ‘Maritime’ Estate Pinot Noir
- ‘Block 8’ Estate Pinot Noir
- ‘Reserve’ Estate Pinot Noir
Begin drinking 4-6 years after release. These are our most tannic wines and need longer to achieve an ideal drinking window.
- ‘East Ridge’ Estate Pinot Noir
- ‘Raschen Ridge’ Estate Pinot Noir
For us, the greatest red wines are those which still possess fresh fruit but offer the complex flavors and integrated tannins that can only come with age. Not every red wine, even from great terroirs, will achieve this. Much comes down to vintage, and perfect storage is essential for long aging.
We recently embarked on a project to taste through every wine we’ve ever made. This process is ongoing and will take some time to complete. Eventually we’ll publish a comprehensive vintage chart with drinking recommendations for individual wines. In the meantime, if you need a recommendation for a specific wine, please email us.
Aged white wines are much less common than aged reds, but offer their own delights and surprises. Our Estate Chardonnay is high in acidity and naturally possesses concentrated fruit and dry extract. These qualities make it ideal for aging, especially in cooler vintages.
Over time, our Chardonnay will become richer and more textured. Flavors will transition from fresh stone fruits, citrus and white flowers to honey, toasted nuts, and brioche.
For more on serving our wines, click here.