Ageing and maturing The warrior's rest Not all grape varieties and not all grapes have the broad backs they need to be able to age over time. The choice, then, is first made out in the countryside, by deciding which type of wine the grapes are going to be used for. Young wines can be drunk from the spring after the grape harvest onwards. There are wines which only rest a few months after the alcoholic fermentation before being bottled. The more important wines must start from sound grapes with a good balance of sugars and acidity, able to take the wine to its peak. There are wines which, after alcoholic fermentation and malolactic fermentation, are allowed to rest for a period (which may be longer or shorter) in wooden barrels (small barrels or large ones). This is a period when the wine acquires complexity as new aromas form. This is followed by a long period in the bottle, where the wine undergoes further slow changes until it reaches the highest point of its development in terms of colour, elegance, development of its bouquet, structure, smoothness and roundness. Ageing in wood and long bottle-ageing are usually for red wines (with a greater variety of substances), but sometimes they are also suitable for certain white wines which are to be kept for a long time.