Beyond the descriptions of flavors and aromas, and subjective views on whether the wine is actually enjoyable or not, many of the wine tasting notes I read include a final note as to whether or not you should drink or hold the wine. “Drink” means that the wine is at or near the prime of its aging curve, and “hold” means that it still has at least a year or more to reach its potential. Actually, I have seen one more descriptor – drink up – which means that the wine may have passed its peak, and needs to be consumed now before it goes too far down the other side of the hill.
Some wines get both a “drink” and a “hold.” They are delicious now, but have potential to continue improving. These are wines you can be glad you bought by the six-pack or case. In general, though, wine and mead cellaring is a lot like growing fruit trees; it doesn’t just teach you patience, it beats it into you with a rock.
A recent vertical tasting of the three batches of Black Agnes put this all in perspective. The result of age was immediately apparent just in the aromatics of the meads. Batch One was much more rounded and soft; its fruit was cleaner and clearer, and it presented layers of fruit character that were easy to tease apart. Batch Two was slightly more angular, still appealing, but not as giving in its fruit component depth. Batch Three was even more “stern,” with fruity but youthful aromatics. It was definitely the teenager in this comparison, which was remarkable, because when I tasted and nosed a barrel sample in isolation at the meadery just a week earlier, I thought, “Man, this is terrific.” It was especially apparent when I had nosed and tasted what it could become with time, Batch Three was definitely a drink/hold.
I’ve never seen a drink /hold comment in a mead review. It’s kind of a shame, as meads are definitely more wine-like than beer-like, and frequently do not show their true splendor until a minimum of two to sometimes five or more years from bottling. At Schramm’s, we put some information on anticipated maturities on our labels. We hope that helps you to understand when your mead may be capable of delivering its finest performance.