A $12 Merlot from Washington that needs 6 years of cellaring

It's extremely rare for a US made wine under $16 to require bottle aging beyond 3 years of the vintage date. But I have noticed one winery whose early 2000 reds were consistently hard or closed even afer release. And some of them were dumped at Trader Joes for one third their list price. So here I am with a $6 wine from the 2002 vintage that finally tastes drinkable.

It is the Hogue 2002 Merlot Genesis (WS 90, $15). Even WS whose editors who largely enjoy their wines young, said this needed until 2007. And other bottles of the Hogue Genesis line were pretty closed. How is it right after opening? Only OK... muddy tart blueberry and purple berry in a medium body with minimal acidity and mouth coating citrusy tannins. My score: 85.

Most people into fine wines think putting down a bottle or cellaring it is good. But modern wines are largely made in a style that is ready to drink sooner, so few wines require more than a year of aging after release. Winemakers largely recognize that only serious oenophiles have the patience and resources to actually store wine. So I'm trying to dig through my wines and start drinking some that I thought needed aging. Because the only thing than worse than drinking a wine too early is drinking it too late.