03/02/05 New releases

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran. I receive newsletters from my favorite wine shops and at this time of the year the y are writing about new releases of wine. Like a book or a movie a new wine will have a debut of sorts. That is the time when the wine is poured for the first time to the general consuming public. Very often your local wine shops will have a special tasting and allow its customers an opportunity to taste these new wines. The term new release means that the wine has been determined by the winemaker, and the winery, to be ready for distribution. In most cases it is now ready for consumption. Now, I say in most cases, because you may experience advice from the winery principles or your wine merchant, that although the wine has been released and is drinkable now, it may be better yet, if you take it home and store it longer. Now just because a wine is from a vintage that is a few years old does not mean that it can't be a new release. There are reputable wineries that will bottle age their wines, for an extra period of time, prior to releasing them. So the wines that they are newly releasing may be a year or even two or three older than the more common vintages being released at the time. Obviously these wines may cost a bit more as the wineries have invested in aging them for you. If you attend a tasting and new vintages are being tasted asks lots of questions. It's fun to look at your notes when you go back to the wine in the future or when you pour it for friends. Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at vine to wine dot net and thanks for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.