Wine Spectator School

 
Perhaps you've had the chance to drink one of the great red wines of the world when it was fully mature. If so, it's an experience you won't soon forget. Mature wines from outstanding vintages are the stuff of legends and provide tangible ties to summers and harvests long past.

The reality is that only a tiny fraction of the world's wines are actually better after 5 years in the cellar. Even fewer can improve for 10 or 20 years.

Most wines --both red and white-- do not have the stuffing it takes to live long lives. They are best consumed in their youth, when they are fresh and fruity. These wines can offer value, quality and...