Wine gone dumb or dead?

[Really Nice!]

How do you know if a wine is going through its dumb period or if a wine is dead?

I opened a red tonight and it seems to be missing the components I've gotten from it in the past. I'm expecting it stay vibrant longer than this year.

I'm deliberately holding back on vintage, varietal, and vintner because I don't want responses about this specific wine. I want to know how to tell if a wine is closing down for a while or dead. I still have 7 bottles in the case.

[RobInAustin]

Sometimes it can be hard to tell. But, a dumb phase is where the weight and mouthfeel can still be there, but the wine has just "shut down", I use the analogy of obsedian...just all dense and dark, no layers.

Dead usually shows a total lack of fruit, leaving only tannins and bitter components and/or a mustiness/

If there is still a decent nose, it probably is dumb, not dead.

Of course, alot more depends on the wine, vintage, storage conditions, age, yadda yadda yadda.

Cheers,

Rob