Drink from, peak year and drink until
Per vintage you record three years: from when you can open the wine, around which year it peaks and until when it stays good. You can add a source and a confidence percentage, for example the producer's advice or a wine writer. Wijnfeld always presents a drinking window as an estimate, never as a certainty.
How long can you keep wine?
It varies enormously. Many white and rosé wines are meant to be drunk within two to three years. Structured reds with plenty of tannin and acidity, such as Barolo, Bordeaux or Rioja Gran Reserva, often develop for ten to twenty years. Sweet and fortified wines can go even longer. The drinking window depends on grape, vintage, producer and storage conditions, which is why Wijnfeld records it per vintage rather than per wine.
Your drinking priority on the dashboard
The dashboard shows the wines in stock whose drinking window ends first. A wine without a drinking window is never presented as a certainty. At a glance you see which bottles deserve attention this year and which you can safely leave for a few more years.
Ask the sommelier
Ask in the web app or on WhatsApp “which wine should I drink this year?” and the sommelier combines your drinking windows with your stock and your taste profile. It can also advise leaving a special bottle alone because it still has plenty of ageing potential.
What if you do not know the drinking window?
Leave it empty. Wijnfeld does not invent drinking windows. You can fill it in later, for example based on your own tasting note: if the wine tasted closed, extend the window; if it was at its peak, note the peak year.
Frequently asked questions
What does drinking window mean?
The drinking window is the period in which a wine is expected to be at its best, from the first year it drinks well until the last year before it declines.
How do I know the drinking window of my wine?
Look at the advice of the producer, the merchant or a wine writer, and use your own tasting experience. Record it in Wijnfeld with source and confidence so you later know how reliable it is.
Does Wijnfeld warn me when a wine is about to pass its peak?
The dashboard lists the wines whose drinking window ends first at the top, labelled drink now, priority soon or possibly past the expected peak. Proactive notifications are on the roadmap.
Try Wijnfeld with your own cellar
Start free with Starter, or book a demo to see how Wijnfeld works with your collection.
Read next
- Digital wine cellarWhat a digital wine cellar is, why bottle-level tracking matters and how to get your whole collection online in an afternoon.
- Wine inventoryA practical approach to tracking your wine inventory: from the first stock take to daily additions and write-offs.
- Food pairingHow food pairing advice works when it comes from your own inventory instead of a generic list.
- WhatsApp sommelierHow the WhatsApp sommelier works, what you can ask, how to link your number securely and what it costs.
- Tasting notesWhy tasting notes are more than a diary: they become the basis for personal advice and buying decisions.
- ComparisonHow Wijnfeld differs from CellarTracker, Vivino, Oeni and Viniou, and who it is and is not for.