I'm curious too, as I had a fairly old mead that, when tasted by the club, a few people noted oxidized flavors.
But it was 11 years old, and never sulfited, so I was not offended or put off by a little oxidation.
Don't really know. I've just noticed that meads, particularly traditionals, don't seem to oxidise as readily as other wines (lower sensitivity ? for some reason).
I've read that other vastly more experienced mead makers have noticed this as well, though whether it's something to do with the actual honey(s) used, or a lack of organic compounds (when comparing honey to grape juice etc), or the temperature of the meads when ageing/stored.
I just notice that if I open a bottle of "normal" red or white, you can start noticing a change in flavour after a while (can't put a figure on how long in hours), and if you then store it in the fridge overnight, you can taste a difference the following day, where this doesn't seem to happen with meads so quickly. Yes, obviously it will happen after a while, it just doesn't seem to happen quite so quickly.
Don't forget, it could easily be a temperature thing. We're a hell of a lot more "temperate" here, that parts of north America, when you guys experience greater seasonal swings than us.
Does that make sense ? I hope it does. Otherwise all my efforts at avoiding oxygen/air exposure (airspaces when ageing, no splash racking, proper use of sulphites, etc etc) when actually making the stuff, would be wasted.
Hell, the only reason why I follow the comments about "sherry-like" tastes and the correlation to oxidation is because I know what sherry tastes like. I've not actually experienced losing a batch to oxidation.
regards
fatbloke
