Mythbusters: You Can’t Age White Wine…Or Can You?

Ep 145

You can’t age white wine. Or at least that’s what most people think.

In this episode, that assumption gets unpacked and challenged. While it’s true that many white wines are made to be enjoyed young, that doesn’t mean white wine as a category isn’t capable of aging. The difference comes down to how the wine is made and what’s actually in the bottle.

I’m sharing why white wines change color over time, what oxidation really means, and why browning doesn’t automatically signal a bad wine. I also break down the real factors that determine ageability including acidity, sugar, complexity, and specific winemaking choices. You’ll also learn why grapes like Riesling, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, and Semillon are often capable of aging far longer than most people expect.

You’ll hear what an aged white wine tends to taste like over time, and how to feel more confident opening an older bottle, as well as why dessert and fortified white wines often age for decades thanks to sugar, acidity, and alcohol.

So the next time you’re staring at an older bottle of white wine and wondering if it’s still good, you’ll actually know what to look for.

Thank you to our exclusive sponsor, Last Bottle, for sponsoring this episode. Go to www.lastbottlewines.com and use code CORKANDFIZZ for 10% off your order! (And be sure to sign up for their mailing list so you never miss a bottle!)

Episode Highlights:

• Why white wine can age
• What oxidation really does
• Why white wine turns brown
• The role of acidity in aging
• How sugar affects longevity
• White grapes that age well
• How flavors change over time
• What aged white wine tastes like

Transcript

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If you love wine but hate overpaying, listen up. Today's sponsor, Last Bottle Wines, drops one deeply discounted sommelier-picked wine every single day. I'll tell you why I'm obsessed later in the episode, but for now, head to lastbottlewines.com and use code CORCANDFIZZ for 10% off. Interested in learning about wine but not sure where to start? You're in the right place. Welcome to the Cork and Fizz Guide to Wine Podcast. I'm your host, Haley Bollman, and I'm so glad you're here. I'm a wine enthusiast turned wine educator and founder of the Seattle-based wine tasting business Cork and Fizz. It is my goal to build your confidence in wine by making it approachable and lots of fun. You can expect to learn everything from how to describe your favorite wine to what to pair with dinner tonight and so much more. Whether you're Casual wine sipper or a total cork dork like myself, this podcast is for you. So grab yourself a glass and let's dive in. Hello and welcome back to the Cork and Fizz Guide to Wine podcast. Now, before we get into today's topic, I wanna give a shout out to my very first paid subscriber. This podcast is completely free for you to listen to, and I plan to keep it that way. But if you'd like to show your support to the podcast, you can do so with a small monthly payment, $10 or less, by becoming a paid subscriber. Link in the show notes. This helps me cover the cost of production. So big shout out to Ellie, my very first paid subscriber. Today we're continuing on in my Mythbusters miniseries where I debunk wine myths new and old and give you the straight facts. Facts, plus maybe a couple of my own opinions, but this is my podcast after all. Today's myth is that white wine can't age, and I'm going to tell you why that's wrong. So let's start with just the myth. I think there are two key things that have caused people to think that white wine can't age. First, a lot of white wines, more so than reds, are made to be drunk young. So what this means is that they don't need to age to be good, but that doesn't mean that a white wine can't age. The inverse isn't true, right? That like you have to drink it young. Some of them are better that way, but there are many white wines that you can most certainly age. And we're going to talk more about that. The other reason that I think people believe that white wine can't age is that white wines start to turn brown as they age, and I can understand that this may make you think that the wine has gone bad, right? When something turns brown, you're like, ew, gross, right? We don't want to eat that. Like, you know, like when the bananas turn brown or when you take a bite of apple and it starts to turn brown. Sometimes when it turns brown, it does mean that it's gone bad, but other times it's simply the result of oxidation. This is a slow ingress of oxygen into the bottle that causes the wine to get darker in age, but it also develops really unique and interesting flavors. I remember I once saw someone drinking a 30-plus-year-old glass of Riesling. The wine was brown, like it was a very dark amber. We might say amber just because it sounds a little more pleasing, but it looked brown. But she assured me it was absolutely incredible tasting and perfectly fine to drink. It just looked a little different than you might expect. Just a quick reminder, if you are not on my mailing list yet, what are you waiting for? I would love for you to join. When you do, you'll get a free shopping guide that has 15 of my favorite wines under $15. Head to corkandfizz.com, scroll down to the bottom, and there'll be a little section where you can join the mailing list. I send out a weekly newsletter filled with wine tips, recommendations, special offers, and so much more. Now let's get back to the show. So let's get into the facts. The ageability of any wine is dependent primarily on tannins, acidity, and to a slightly lesser degree, sugar. Now, obviously white wines do not have much when it comes to tannins. Remember, tannins come from the skins and the seeds and the stems of the grapes. And so most white wines are not fermented on their grape skins or with the seeds or the stems. Unless of course it's an orange wine, but that's something totally different. We're going to save that for another episode. But where white wine lacks tannins, it does have acidity. Acidity is a wine trait that slows chemical interactions that cause wine to go bad. It is key to helping the wine age without spoiling and basically gives it like this backbone to stand up on. So, Imagine, you know, that acidity is essentially there so that as the wine ages and then it changes flavor, it still has like this, like, I like to imagine like almost like a coat rack or something that like the wine still has that as its like structure. So even as it changes, even as things soften, it still has this really nice structure that makes it a really lovely wine to drink. Remember me mentioning that 30+ year old bottle of Riesling that I saw someone drinking? Riesling is known for having incredibly high acidity, which makes it a very age-worthy wine, even as a white wine. And then beyond tannin and acidity is sugar. And the fact is dessert wines, those with higher levels of sugar, AKA wines with higher levels of sugar, can age even longer. Fortified wines, which are essentially a sweet wine that has had a spirit added to it, so it stops the fermentation process. So you have higher alcohol and higher sugar content. Some examples of these are sherry, Madeira, and even Marsala. These have been shown to improve in flavor and texture over decades. So again, this is a style of white wine that has the sugar in it, has the acidity, and also has some added alcohol, which will help it age. Plus many dessert wines that are made from grapes that have gone through botrytis, which is called noble rot. This is essentially where this rot literally on the grapes, causes them to turn into raisins. And then when you press these raisin-like grapes, you get a very sweet juice. And these wines again, end up having very high sugar content. They are considered a dessert wine and they can age for 10 to 30+ years. A good example of this is Sauternes, which is one of the most popular dessert wines that comes out of Bordeaux., and many people will age these wines, like I said, 10 to 30 years, and they will still have so much flavor because they have the sugar and they have the acidity. Another great example is ice wines. So this is not— the noble rot doesn't happen to these, but instead the grapes are frozen on the vine, and then when they're pressed, a lot of the water content is kept out because it's frozen as ice, and you just again get that really sugary juice. Now there's also a bonus fourth attribute in a wine that can contribute to ageability, and that's complexity of flavors. Basically what this means is that there's just more in the wine to develop in an interesting way. So any wines that kind of just have a singular note, don't have a lot going on, probably wouldn't age very well because you don't have a lot to play with. And this is why, again, Riesling is a great option for aging. Because it's incredibly aromatic and it's got all these different complex flavors. And if it's made right, you can have a great depth of flavor. Beyond the different components in wines, there are also certain winemaking techniques that can help when creating an age-worthy wine. One of these is exposure to oxygen during fermentation. So remember, aging comes from the oxidation process. This is where little bits of oxygen get into the bottle. And they transform the flavors. Well, they've found that if you allow the wine to be in contact with oxygen while you're making it, it can actually help it age better. That early oxygen content helps the wine to deal with oxygenation over its lifetime, whereas wines that are made without oxygen during winemaking typically fall off quickly when later oxygen contact is added. The other winemaking technique that helps create an age-worthy wine is a period of barrel aging. Who doesn't want incredible wine for a steal? Today's podcast is brought to you by Last Bottle Wines, a Napa Valley-based online wine shop with a super fun twist. Some of the best bottles I've ever opened, AKA the ones my friends still talk about to this day, came from Last Bottle. And I love when they say, this is incredible, and I get to reply, yep, and it's usually an $80 wine. I only paid $25. At Last Bottle Wines, they offer just one handpicked wine per day until it sells out. New day, new wine. It's like a fun little daily surprise. And the deals? Wild. We're talking 30 to 80% off retail, so you can try amazing bottles without the scary price tag. Their team tastes hundreds of wines every week, so you know what you see is worth grabbing. There's no subscription, no minimums, and free ground shipping when you buy 6 or more bottles. Use code CorkandFizz for 10% off and go see today's wine at lastbottlewines.com. Again, this just adds more complexity, different flavors, and so it allows for oxygen contact during fermentation, which is what we just talked about that helps with age-worthy wines. Now, obviously there are lots of different white wines that can age, but if we're looking at certain grape varieties that are known for aging well, there are certainly some that stand out. So we've already talked about Riesling. This grape typically produces a wine with higher acidity, can also have high sugar depending on the style that's made. Honestly, the most age-worthy Rieslings have high acidity and high sugar, but they're not always overly sweet. That acidity and the sugar balance each other out. And then they both help with the aging. And of course, the Rieslings that have lots of complexity are even better when they've had some aging. Another grape variety that's known for making wine that can age is Chardonnay. Again, combination of higher acidity. And then this grape is usually combined with some form of oak aging, whether it's new or old oak barrels. Now, obviously there are lots of different types of Chardonnay, so be sure to ask the winemaker or the wine shop where you're buying the wine if they think this is a wine that can age well, because there are some chardonnays that are made to drink within the first couple years. The next one is a little surprising. So this is a wine made from the grape called Semillon. Semillon is a white grape that is most popular in Bordeaux. So if you ever get a Bordeaux Blanc, a white wine from Bordeaux, France, it is usually a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Remember we were talking about Sauternes earlier, that dessert wine? That is usually made with Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Now, the reason why I say Semillon is surprising that it's such an age-worthy— it's a grape that makes age-worthy wine— is because it has lower acidity. It's not like our Sauvignon Blanc or our Riesling where it has this really high level of acidity. And instead, this one, I think, is the complexity of the wine that makes up for that and makes it so interesting. As it ages, it develops. Really, really unique flavors. Okay, the next one you may not have heard of. This is called Viura, which is the grape that's used most often in a white Rioja, Rioja being a region in Spain. This grape is fun because it can produce really bright, citrusy wines that are meant to be drunk young. But on the flip side, it can also produce incredibly nutty, savory, honey-aromad wines. That are capable of aging 10, 20 years, if not more. You basically have to find out, like, you, when you're buying a white Rioja, you just need to know what style it was made in. If it was made in the traditional style, and sometimes the label will say this, but other times you'll have to ask depending on where you're buying it. If it's made in the traditional style, it's likely meant to age. If it is made in a more modern style, it's likely that really bright, citrusy, fun summer wine. Okay. And the last one that I'm going to mention is Chenin Blanc. This one, similar to Riesling, Chenin Blanc grapes typically create wines with really high acidity. They can also have higher levels of sugar. So especially sweet Chenin Blancs out of the Loire Valley, specifically around Anjou, have been a collector's choice for decades when it comes to aged white wine. And again, so much complexity and flavor. Lots of options to play around with. You're going to get a lot of different flavors happening. Now, as I'm talking about lots of different flavor, I'm sure one of your questions is, okay, what does aged white wine taste like then? And obviously it totally depends on the wine, but in general, aged white wine tends to be more savory than their younger selves. The fresh fruit flavor that would've been there, you know, in the first couple years transformed into dried or baked versions of themselves. So, If initially it had this really bright, crisp green apple, it might turn into more of like a baked apple pie kind of flavor or like a dried spiced apple. And then these new flavors develop. This is actually what in the wine world we call tertiary flavors. So you have primary, secondary, and tertiary, and these are the flavors that develop from aging. This is the only way that you can create these kinds of aromas.. And so you can get flavors like hay or mushrooms. I frequently get more nutty aromas and flavors from aged wines, which again is one of those kind of tertiary flavors. Texture-wise, many white wines develop a rounder, more viscous mouthfeel. So essentially they get fuller in body and they get this little heaviness. And this is primarily because the acidity does soften. That's why you want so much acidity to start out with. Because it is going to lower a little bit. Now, as always, there are exceptions to any of the statements that I've made above. The best way to know if a white wine is age-worthy, or if you see an older white wine and want to know, hey, is this still good to drink, is to ask. I highly recommend shopping at a smaller wine shop or going directly to the winemaker. They'll be able to tell you more about the wine and give you a general idea of when it should be drunk. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Cork and Fizz Guide to Wine podcast. If you loved it as much as I did, I would so appreciate if you could take a quick second, rate it, leave a review, and if you know a wine lover in your life that would enjoy it, please share it with them. And if you'd like to show additional support for the show, you can become a paid subscriber. Click the link in the show notes and become a monthly supporter for $10 or less a month. You'll get a shout out in the next episode I record. Plus, if you choose the $10 per month option, you'll get to choose a topic for a future episode. In next week's episode, I'll be interviewing Ashwin Mathaiya. He is the founder of Unpinned Wine Club. Unpinned is a wine subscription built around discovery, storytelling, and breaking the rigid rules of the wine industry. And we know we love that around here. Ashwin's journey in wine has been shaped by time living in Georgia, Italy, Hungary, and Serbia, where he immersed himself in local traditions and learned directly from the winemakers. These experiences gave him a firsthand perspective on the culture and the history and the resilience behind the world's most distinctive wine regions that not a lot of us think about. I know, I'm sure you're surprised. You're like, what do you mean Georgia is one of the world's most distinctive? It really is. And it's what inspired him to create a wine club that focused on underrepresented wines from around the world. I think you're going to like this one. Thanks again for listening. And if you want to learn more about wine, come follow me at Cork and Fizz on Instagram. Cheers.