One of the reasons I buy more red wine than white wine is because one of my great joys is following wines at various stages as they age, I don’t drink all that much wine, and with the reds I buy (old world, largely Burg/Piedmont/Bordeaux) I’m comfortable that they’ll age for decades.
But I’d like to stock up on more whites to follow their aging over the course of years or decades. So what can I buy with confidence that they won’t fall apart in 10-20 years? These seem to be the obvious ones:
German Riesling
Top Austrian Gruner (but which ones?)
Big-house Champagne and longstanding grower cuvees (e.g., Peters Chetillons)
Top Bordeaux Blanc
Top Hermitage Blanc (really just Chave as I don’t have broad experience)
What else? I’m still not there with White Burg, even under DIAM. I’ve had terrible luck with Clos St. Hune. Which grower Champagnes do people think will age like DP/Cristal/etc? What is the level of confidence w/ GGs? Kallin and Stony Hill but what other new world whites? What in Italy? Would love to hear examples of individual wines (not just regions).
I’ve had fantastic experiences with 4 bottles in a row of 20+ year old Mayacamas Chardonnay. Particularly a 2000 recently that was just downright young. I don’t think much has changed with their vinification recently (other than adding a premium Estate single block chardonnay) so I would expect similar results.
Ageworthy Australian whites should fit in this category too, notably Semillons and some top Riesling and Chardonnay bottlings (Art Series Chard comes to mind in particular). Screwtop closure also helps
I’ve thought about Muscadet but have never had one that old. My impression has always been that Muscadet evolves but I’m not sure it gets better. I still have a couple btls of '07 Pepiere Clisson that I’ll use to test my assumptions. Typically I find them so tempting to open young that as a practical matter I don’t keep them around.
Hunter Semillon (esp. Tyrrells Vat 1 and HvD and McWilliam’s Mt Pleasant Elizabeth) and Claire Valley Riesling (Grosset, Kilikanoon, Rieslingfreak, etc) come to mind.
There’s a thread with a reasonable amount of evidence that the dry wines are no longer bulltproof for long term aging. Global warming is changing a lot of things.
Plus 1 on the Lopez de Heredia whites, the best Bordeaux Blancs, and Muscadet.
For Austria, I really like the older Rieslings. Pichler has been great each time I have been fortunate enough to have it.
Again global warming is impacting the region. A lot of Muscadet that I drank from the 80s and 90s would peel the enamel off your teeth when it was young. Most of what I buy now seems to drink well early but also age reasonably well.
I tend to agree with you in regards to Muscadet and evolution. I drink it early as well and only have six in the cellar to age. I haven’t had many experiences with older ones but when I did, they struck me as very good: Côtes de Grand Lieu, Jo Landron and Pierre Luneau. But I guess they weren’t enough to actually have me buy a lot of Muscadet to cellar.
Savennières: I’m currently cellaring Boudignon after having some older Domaine aux Moines Roche aux Moines that were really good. I also have some 10 year old Château Soucherie Clos des Perrières that I should check-in on.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape: I still remember the old C9P that my dad would serve me. Unfortunately, that was before I started paying attention to producers. But that old white C9P profile still gets me when I get to drink some (maybe nostalgia is part of it?). Last one, I drank, a couple of years ago, was a Château Fortia (mid 80s or early 90s, can’t remember and my picture doesn’t show the vintage) and it was lovely. But here as well, I only have one C9P blanc in my cellar. Instead, I seek those out when I go to France in the summer. And I’ve noticed that a couple of them every year is enough to scratch my itch.
Musar Blanc
Château Simone Palette Blanc
Domaine Ernest Burn (Alsace)
Beaucastel Blanc
I’ve also had old bottles of Argyle from the 80’s that were brilliant back when they were 30ish years old.
To me, buying & storing Champagne from the good vintages are a no-brainer. Some producers don’t age well, but there are more that do than we give credit to.
I agree about Muscadet. Once the youthful zing is gone I simply don’t find them very appealing and I find they’re particularly sensitive to oxidation. The better ones appear to hold onto their acidity longer, but I see no reason to take it to the extreme. For instance, Pepiere '14 Thebaud has been amazing over the past two years, basically everything I want in a Muscadet, but I see nothing there to think it would be better at 15 or 20 years old.
on top of or expanding from what’s been said:
Chateau Simone
Beaucastel VV
Peter Lauer Sekt
Nicholas Joly
Guiberteau
Hunter Valley Semillion
Gérard Boulay
Marqués de Murrieta
Georges Vernay Condrieu
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