So, you want to make wine. Romantic, right? Maybe you’ve imagined yourself strolling through rows of vines at golden hour, a floppy hat perched rakishly on your head, occasionally plucking a grape and pondering its phenolic maturity with a furrowed brow.

So how long does open wine really last? And how do you know when it’s time to let go?

Let’s start with a familiar assumption: the more expensive the wine, the better it must be.

When I told people I was heading to the Loire Valley to “sniff around for some interesting producers,” they smiled politely and assumed I’d be guzzling rosé beside a château for a week.

In the rarefied world of fine wine, tradition is king. Centuries-old techniques, appellation rules, and generational know-how are often held up as the gold standard.

Wine Expert Warns How to Spot a Faulty Wine Before It Spoils Your Meal

This article digs deep into why this is happening, what it means for collectors and producers, and whether Bordeaux can bounce back.