In wine as in every other aspect of human life every once in a while you get to see (or taste) great things.

But recognizing greatness is not as easy as one may think. At least not when speaking about wine. You see, one of the reasons that makes it hard, it’s because one of the measurements of greatness is the effect that time has on wine. Like great music, a great wine seems to gain something every time you cross paths with it. Simply put it transcends time.

Another reason that talking greatness is difficult it’s because in order to really talk greatness we need a little perspective. In soccer, fans just know that Messi is great because of the hundreds of players they get to compare him to every year.

Only after you have tasted hundreds of wines can you gain a little perspective.

To me the six qualities a wine must possess in order to achieve greatness are:

1. - Please and challenge at the same time

A great wine should not only please your senses, it should challenge them. A great wine will always make you pay attention. Experiencing greatness is transcendent, it changes the way you think.

2. – Unique

This is where the land comes in. A great wine should not only possess universal qualities but it must have uniqueness to it. The sense of uniqueness will always be the reflection of a great vineyard.

3. - Integration

Like great music in which every note seems to be in place, a great wine never has a hard edge. All of its elements seem to be the perfect fit to the next.

4. - Balance

A wine in perfect harmony between all of its elements. Balance makes a wine be more enjoyable now and also helps a wine age gracefully.

5. - Complexity

The more experience the taster has the better he will grasp all the layers to a complex wine.

6. - The ability to age

Probably the defining characteristic of great wine is the ability to gain something with the passing of time. The great wines of Bordeaux are usually better 10-15 years from the vintage than they were upon release.

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Editor de La Guia del Vino, coleccionista de vino, asesor privado.

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