I am not yet 40 but this week I have felt positively old. It all kicked off with my new hairdresser who suggested that it was time to start dying my hair. She is particularly keen to do this before I take on the supporting role of matron of honour (possibly the oldest sounding, dreariest name ever) at the end of the year.

Why are we so much more flattering about wine? We talk about a wine maturing, evolving, and gaining complexity. I would love to be described in terms of ‘subtle nuances’ rather than ‘greying’ or ‘wrinkles’. The colour of a wine changes from youthful purple to garnet and even when it is beyond its best, we say nice things like, ‘a little faded’ or ‘starting to tire’.

Perhaps ironically I do get irritated at our national obsession with wanting to age all manner of wines. ‘How long will it keep’ being one of the most commonly asked questions at any wine tasting.

I do believe that people become more interesting the more days they have spent treading life’s paths but I am not at all persuaded that this is the case for all wine.

Watching children running round the play park is wonderful but, ultimately, quite tiring. Most probably because it is a constant reminder of how less energetic I am than thirty-odd years ago.

Hand me a young wine on the other hand and I feel invigorated. A wine that has been successfully made to be drunk in its infancy should have crystal clear, no-nonsense fruits. You’re looking for all of its composite parts to be perfectly integrated and delivering to optimum effect in the here and now.

White wines should have refreshing crispness but not the sort of acidity that you would expect to find in a keeper.

A red, meanwhile, will have enough tannin to support the fruit (nothing worse than a juice-like wine) but not so much that your teeth are left with a tea-bag coating and you are left with an insatiable desire for water. You sometimes hear these wines being talked about in terms of their simplicity but I think that is harsh. I prefer to think of them as unadulterated or pure.

It is a choice. I do not always want to take the time or make the effort that is required to appreciate a vintage wine. There is a time and a place to mull over the subtle complexities of a wine that has acquired a breadth of flavours over time but they are not for every day.

When I saw the mixed case that had been put together for this week’s The Oxford Times Wine Club offer I was genuinely pleased.

My love of Riesling is well-documented and I tell you not a word of a lie when I say that I always have a stock of young German Rieslings on my rack because I cannot imagine a day when I would not want the chance to have a glass.

No matter how much older I get, there is no question that my taste for younger wines will remain undiminished. As for the hair dye? Well, the jury is still out.

Click here for The Oxford Times Wine Club offers.