Barolo and Barbaresco benefit from aging, one wine writer has noted.

In the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Dan Berger said most vintners worth their salt know the key factor in wine ageing is a balance of all elements, including tannins and acids.

"Of the wines in our cellar that have aged the longest, most are Italian," he commented.

Barolo and Barbaresco benefit from time in the cellar, as young ones typically have the cherry and tar fruit of the nebbiolo grape, together with strong tannins and acid that need decades to "smooth out".

"But we had a bottle of a great 1990 Chianti recently and it was already beginning to fade, so 20 years seems to be the limit for such wines," added Mr Berger.

A recent article by Matt Kramer in Wine Spectator said the chief reason to age wine is in the belief that it will transform, rather than simply endure.