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You’re searching through your wine rack for a nice white to chill and open later. You’re in a Chardonnay mood, so you start looking through your Chard stock. A particular bottle catches your eye that you had forgotten about – it’s in the far bottom corner. It’s an upper end Chardonnay from a reputable California winery – let’s say from Monterey County’s own Talbot or Morgan winery. You know what to expect from a place like Monterey County, so you’re excitement grows in anticipation of the eventual opening. But as you pull a bottle from the rack a sinking feeling settles in – the vintage year on the bottle is five years ago. Darn!!!
But wait… Truth is that some whites actually do age well. In fact, some of the most sought after aged wines in the world are white wines, such as vintage Champagnes or Sauternes wines. But you don’t have to have one of these elite wines to appreciate an aged white wine – you don’t even need a late-harvest white wine to discover how white wines can flourish with age. Actually, since you know that Monterey County is famous for our Chardonnay wines, you’re in a great place to try this out for yourself. As with most everything, not all wines are made the same, and this includes white wines. Let’s focus on Chardonnay in particular for now. An aged Chardonnay can open a whole new world to you and may taste like no other Chardonnay you’ve ever had.
And Chardonnay isn’t the only white varietal which can age well. Pinot Blancs and Chenin Blancs, and Rieslings are other white varietals which can age well. Most aged Chardonnays are best in a 2-8 year cellar timeframe from release, which is roughly true for Pinot Blanc wines as well. However, Chenin Blanc wines can age for around 20 years and still be amazing. And guess which white varietal can age for around 30 years? It’s Riesling. That’s even longer than the cellar life of most red varietal wines. Hold on though, as we do not want to suggest that every bottle of these white varietals you encounter is going to be ageable. Even with red wines, around 90% of wine produced in the world today is meant to be consumed within a year of production, and something like 99% is meant to be consumed within five years. So if you’re looking for a white wine to cellar, be sure and read the tasting notes first. Because the question of why some whites can be beneficially cellared, while most others are best consumed within the first year or two after being released, is not easy to answer. But we can say that the factors that play a role are a white wine having above-average natural acidity balanced by the right pH factor, vineyard soil composition, climate, clonal selection, vineyard yield, and oak treatment (both during fermentation and then in aging before bottling). With this many factors involved, it probably is not too surprising to now read that most aged white wines or white wines made to be aged are not going to be your typical everyday bottle of white wine. Generally, white wines are less expensive than red wines, but this is definitely not the case when you get into ageable white wines. These white wines will be in the same range, if not more, than a lot of higher-end red wines. So disregard that old notion that no white wines can age well. While it is somewhat rare in the wine world, it’s definitely not impossible. And when you try one of these ag |
After all, it’s common knowledge that white wines don’t age well. In fact, this once lovely bottle of Chardonnay has probably turned to some form of vinegar by now. Everyone knows that only red wines are meant for aging, so clearly this bottle is not even worth opening.
Aged Chardonnays can exhibit aromas of toast and hazelnut, accented by honeycomb and earthiness. Sound interesting? It is…trust us. On the palate, expect mouth-filling, complex wines with creamy refined flavors such as lemon.