Do wine collectors ever save white wines to age? It seems I only hear of reds being of old vintage besides perhaps a sparkling expensive wine? Just curious as a guest at my Wines For Humanity wine tasting asked me and I didn't know how to respond.
Answer From Expert Roger Bohmrich MW
The answer is that, definitely, some white wines are age worthy and improve with time. At the moment, there seems to be a bias by many serious wine drinkers toward red wines, and total consumption in the U.S. reflects this perception. Preferences and tastes are not constant, however, and very much reflect prevailing fashion. There are excellent candidates among both dry and sweet white wines in terms of cellaring potential. As with reds, a white which merits keeping must have concentration, structure and balance. The list of possibilities includes top dry Riesling from Alsace or Austria, Chardonnay from Burgundy (especially but not only the highest level, the grands crus of Chablis and the Côte d'Or), Hermitage from the Rhône, and Semillon from Australia. In terms of whites with varying degrees of sweetness, many German Rieslings, starting at Kabinett level, can develop fantastically in bottle over years – if not decades – of cellaring. Then there are the botrytis-affected dessert wines with intense sweetness and acidity such as a German Trockenbeerenauslese, Sauternes from Bordeaux, Sélection de Grains Nobles from Alsace, or Bonnezeaux from the Loire Valley. In fact, sweet whites such as these are not at their best until they have gained in dimension and expression as a result of aging in bottle! There are many others I could cite, not counting individual examples here and there which have all the right attributes to merit keeping. As for sparkling white wines, there the matter of aging after release is more delicate. Only a few styles of Champagne are appropriate for further aging, such as selected vintages from certain producers or the best luxury cuvees. Other than a very few exceptions, sparkling wine around the world is intended for enjoyment within a fairly short period after the product comes to market.
