Should we age our white Bordeaux?
Aging White Wines
First of all, most wines in general aren’t meant for long-term aging, and more and more wine lovers don’t have the patience to age wine anyway. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen wine collectors on social media posting pictures of high-end Bordeaux, Burgundy or Barolo, wines capable of aging decades, that are opened not long after release. Many admit the wine was too young but they still couldn’t wait. This and climate change have caused more producers to make even the top-end wines more approachable younger than before (and perhaps less age-worthy according to some).
Secondly, aging dry, still white wines is far less common than aging red wines. Most drink and collect reds more than whites. Dry whites generally don’t age as long as reds. Some people love aged vintage Champagne, but many feel it gets worse with age. There are great sweet white wines that age wonderfully because of their residual sugar and acid despite not having the tannins of age worthy red wines. I’ve had really old Sauternes, Pedro Ximenez, and sweet Rieslings, for example. However, there aren’t as many categories of dry whites that collectors think to age.
There are some dry whites with a history of aging well like top Bordeaux, Burgundy and German Rieslings that collectors gravitate to. Many more well-made whites from lesser-known regions and varieties are more age-worthy than we think though. For example, Etna Bianco or Assyrtiko from Santorini, with their volcanic minerality and acidity, seem like they could get more complex with age and last long. I just had Petit Manseng based wines from South West France that could age. Top-end Loire Valley whites also have aging potential. Of course, orange wines (skin-contact whites) should have aging potential too since they’re made more like reds. Even when I visited the Muscadet region recently, some producers said their wines could age and evolve up to 10 years despite being known as a light white for immediate consumption.
Characteristics of Aged Whites
Unlike reds, white wines tend to become darker when they age. However, similar to aged red wines, aged white wines can become more elegant and intense in terms of moderating, concentrating and integrating the acidity, tannins, fruit, sugar, notes from lees contact, oak and malolactic (if there are any), and botrytis (primarily for certain sweet wines like Sauternes). They also gain complexities from tertiary notes. The characteristics depend on the variety, terroir and winemaking of course, but aged whites can gain dried fruit flavors, like dried apricot. The gradual oxidation over time can bring nutty, caramel, bruised fruit, and sherry type flavors, but too much of this means the wine is over-the-hill. The best age-worthy whites maintain their good acidity and the vibrancy of their youth in addition to the added complexities of age although the fruit and sugar may taste drier.
In terms of pairing, since aged whites are generally more expensive, rich and complex to begin with in addition to the nuances and added body from the aging, they can often be paired with bigger, richer dishes. At the same time, with all aged wines, it’s important to make the wine the star of the show and not get distracted by overly complicated dishes.
Problems with Aged Whites
With all aged wines, there’s a risk of the wine going bad or at least beyond your preferable peak, even if stored in ideal conditions. For over-the-hill whites, the oxidation notes can dominate and reach a point where there’s no fruit left.
Moreover, there’s a difference between how long a wine can last versus improving with age. Some wines take longer to evolve and evolve immensely while other wines can last a while but not necessarily evolve or improve much. It takes experimenting to find your sweet spot for each type of wine or even producer. Many dry whites don’t evolve as considerably as other types of wines. Therefore, it may not always be worth it to age a dry white wine as long as you’d do for many reds, except for perhaps German Rieslings.
Another reason why collectors are wary of aging whites is premature oxidation (premox). Unlike gradual slow oxidation that occurs in long-term aging, a premox white turns into an over-the-hill, dead white a few minutes after opening despite being relatively young and theoretically/historically able to age much longer.
Around 20-30 years ago, both Burgundy and Bordeaux whites had widespread issues with premox. Most believed the culprit was due to faulty corks although some blame modern methods causing more oxygen exposure at various points in the winemaking. It could also be related to global warming and overproduction. Another possible reason is the decreased use of added sulfur. Although it seems to be less rampant of a problem, collectors are now more hesitant to age their whites beyond 10-15 years.
Aging White Bordeaux
Although premox was less of a problem in Bordeaux than in Burgundy, it might be because there aren’t many high-end Bordeaux dry whites. 90% of Bordeaux is red production, and if you take away the sweet white wine production and all the entry-level whites made for immediate consumption, not many top producers make whites or high quantities of white that are suitable for aging.
Most of the best Bordeaux whites are from the Pessac Leognan appellation although some big name producers in the Medoc also have small production whites like Cos d’Estournel and Palmer. These two Medoc producers only make around 100-200 cases of their white while perhaps the best and most coveted Bordeaux white producer, Haut Brion in Pessac-Léognan, only makes around 600 cases. These same producers typically make 10,000+ cases of their top red. All three will cost you triple digit or quadruple digit prices in dollars.
Basically, there aren’t many age worthy and affordable Bordeaux whites. That’s why I had to buy this 2006 White Bordeaux that I found sitting on the shelf in a random French supermarket about a month ago. It was only 19 euros. To be honest, I’ve had little experience with dry whites over 10 years old except for some dry and off-dry German Rieslings, and a couple of whites that were way past their prime. However, I’m always experimenting. To help with the experiment, I found an entry-level Bordeaux white in Chile to compare.
Tasting Notes
2020 Château Gabaron Bordeaux Blanc
Around 60% Sauvignon Blanc and 40% Semillon. From Vignobles Latorse located in the Entre-Deux-Mers appellation, where they produce more whites than reds. Most of these are for early consumption. Although many Bordeaux whites vinify and age in oak, this one doesn’t feel like it’s had oak aging or at most it was neutral oak aging. The nose was shy with a touch of citrus, minerality then floral notes. The palate is rather middle of the road and simple. White peach fruit. I would prefer more acidity and structure at this young age. I don’t think it will get any better at this stage. In fact, it may start to decline given its low-ish acidity. 87
2006 Haut Bergey Blanc Pessac
When this was produced, the estate was managed by Helene Garcin-Levesque, who currently makes other Bordeaux wines: Barde Haut, Poesia (also in Mendoza), and Clos l’Eglise. Haut Bergey is now managed by her brother Paul Garcin. There’s also a red Haut Bergey. I’ve had all these wines in the past except this white, so I knew this wine was theoretically good enough to be going strong at this age.
The vineyard is planted to around 80/20 Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon, but it’s not clear what the blend is for this vintage. Like most Bordeaux blanc of this level, it is vinified in French oak and aged in French oak. In this case, about 30% was new oak for about 10-12 months. 665 cases made.
More tropical than the 2020 Bordeaux blanc tasted next to it. A touch of oxidation with bruised peach fruit and caramel. Actually more acidity than the 2020. Also more body with even some tannic structure. Some herbs, spiciness and a creamy feel. Still lots of fruit on the palate. Although it’s far from over the hill, it was probably fresher, more acidic in its youth. Hence, some may prefer to have had this younger. You should also at least reconsider the pairing you would have this with compared to a young Bordeaux. At the same time, it’s so much better than the young entry level Bordeaux white and just 12-15 euros more. Although it’s a little less fruitier, there’s still more freshness, body and intensity in this wine. 90
Conclusion
I probably should’ve found a young Haut Bergey white or an equivalent level young Bordeaux white to have made it a more valid experiment to see the effects of aging. It’s still clear that aging a white of this quality and higher can bring in more secondary and tertiary notes and reduce some of the primary fruit notes, which some people would prefer. Others would prefer it in its youth. Unlike classic reds, whites tend to be less tannic, so that’s one less barrier keeping you from drinking it young. So why age white Bordeaux?
Ultimately, it comes down to preference and that takes experimenting and following other experienced collectors on websites like cellartracker.com to check up on how wines are drinking at different ages. Don’t just follow the scores and whether they say it’s ready or not, but their actual descriptions to see if it sounds like a wine drinking well for your palate. However, unless you have one of the top-end Bordeaux whites, I see no need to risk aging it beyond 10 or 15 years especially given how approachable they are these days at a young age and problems of premox.
In addition, this tasting does show that spending an extra $10-15 could get you a much higher quality Bordeaux white that is capable of aging 10-15+ years. That’s affordable for most budgets. However, most Bordeaux whites from a nicer appellation like Pessac-Leognan are still at least $30.
It also depends on the vintage. You should also be aware that great Bordeaux vintages for reds don’t necessarily mean a great vintage for whites, so sometimes the bad red Bordeaux vintages are the ones to find bargain whites if you’re looking to experiment like me. For example, 2007, 2011 and 2013 were not strong years for reds, but produced high quality whites.
Have you tried aged dry white wines? What was your impression?