When to drink a Sonoma wine?
United States · indicative values: the producer, the vintage and storage conditions come first.
Sonoma
Red
Recommended ageing: 3 to 12 years after the vintage.
For example, a 2020 red Sonoma wine drinks best between 2023 and 2028, with a peak plateau around 2025-2027.
White
Recommended ageing: 2 to 8 years after the vintage.
For example, a 2020 white Sonoma wine drinks best between 2022 and 2026, with a peak plateau around 2023-2025.
Vintage by vintage
A great year outlives an average one: the window moves with the vintage. The most recent rated years in Sonoma, applied to the ageing for red Sonoma wine given above.
| Vintage | Rating | Drink |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Great | 2026–2036 |
| 2022 | Great | 2025–2035 |
| 2021 | Outstanding | 2024–2035 |
| 2020 | Drink up | 2023–2028 |
| 2019 | Great | 2022–2032 |
| 2018 | Outstanding | 2021–2032 |
| 2017 | Good | 2020–2029 |
| 2016 | Great | 2019–2029 |
| 2015 | Great | 2018–2028 |
| 2014 | Great | 2017–2027 |
| 2013 | Outstanding | 2016–2027 |
| 2012 | Outstanding | 2015–2026 |
The full history, back to the older vintages: Sonoma.
How to read this window
Before the window opens, the wine is in its youth: fruit dominates, tannins or acidity can feel stern. During the peak plateau, everything falls into balance: this is the moment ageing prepares. Beyond it, the wine slowly declines: nothing unsafe, but the emotion fades. These are general benchmarks for the appellation, not a verdict on your bottle.
Curious where these numbers come from? The method is published in full: five levels from the estate down to the grape, corrected by the vintage and the bottle format.
From the same region
Other appellations in Sonoma, each with its own window:
What about your bottles?
Caviste computes this window for every bottle in your cellar: photograph the label, the sheet fills itself in (estate, vintage, appellation) and the app tells you when a bottle reaches its peak. Discover Caviste.
