Ageing

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In contrast to bottle age ing, which tends to include only all positive changes during the development of a wine up to its peak, ageing also includes all negative changes up to the "end of life". Even in antiquity, attempts were made to produce wines that were resistant to ageing in order to improve their taste through longer storage. Artificial ageing by heating or smoking was also common, as reported by the Greek physician Galen (129-216). In the Bible it is mentioned that old wine should be preferred to young wine, in the Gospel of Luke 5.37 Jesus says: And no one who has drunk old wine likes new. The Greeks and Romans recognised that wines with a high sugar content could be stored for a long time if kept in a cool place. The best ancient wines, such as the famous Roman Falernian, were kept in tightly sealed clay amphorae and took many years to reach their peak. With the decline of the Roman Empire, the art of preservation fell into oblivion again.

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Ageing

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