Firstly, another question: why cellar wines? Thinking about it, laying down a wine for a few years before drinking it is an unusual thing to do with a purchase. No one buys a CD and then puts it in the back of the cupboard in the hope that it will sound better in five years. We cellar wines because they change and develop as they mature. In some cases these changes are good, in others, less so. A tight and tannic red should fill and soften, revealing far more complex flavour and structure after a few years. In contrast a fruity white wine might simply become dull and boring. As the wine ages a few things will happen, the primary fruit flavours will lessen, and more complex, often richer, characters will develop. Red wine tannins will become less bitter, but more mouth-coating and drying, eventually softening away to nothing. Colour will start fresh and vibrant and gradually take on more brown hues, leading to a brick colour in reds and darkening gold in whites. All this can be good, depending on wine style, but how much is too much? Dry whites are easy, as soon as the colour has turned from gold to an orange colour, then it has gone too far. At the same time the freshness will all be gone and there will be a bruised apple aroma and flavour. Reds are a bit more tricky as there can be a delicate beauty in a seriously old red where the tannins, and most of the colour has mellowed away and the wine is full of earthy complexity. I have tasted a few All Saints wines from the early 70’s and they have been lovely. That said, I think it best to aim for a balance of fresh and developed characters. Brick coloured at the rim but still vibrant through the glass, rich mineral and gamy flavours, but still plenty of fresh berry fruit.