I am becoming obsessed for the first time with older, textured, beeswaxy white wines.
Really want to try some aged white Riojas, for instance.
Does anyone have any other recommendations? Thanks!
White musar
Thanks. Looks good! Got this from the Chateau Musar website:
A guide to the style
In youth: yellow-gold, subtly oaky, and creamy-textured, rich yet dry and intensely citrusy, with honeyed nuances. Wholly unique, the style has been described as resembling ‘dry Sauternes’ or mature white Graves. Chateau Musar Whites develop tawny hues and mellow spicy characters as they age.
Chave
Lopez de Heredia Gravonia worth a try as well. Neither that nor the Musar are massively expensive
Wine-Searcher says “No way Jose” on Musar blanc here in Cali (other than the ‘jeune’ which I don;t think is the one you meant).
The LdH Gravonia is available here and sounds like it has some of the oxidative qualities I find intriguing!
Thanks MC! An '85 and a '90 on auction now with K&L. Maybe I’ll toss my hat in the ring on one of them.
[EDIT nm. Wine-Searcher hadn’t updated that the auction had ended on both.]
Good call.
There’s a couple chave 2002 out there for ~120.
I had one about a year ago and it was beautiful with a couple hours of slow ox.
One interesting wine you might want to try is the honorio anadas which is a white rioja made in the solera method.
The Lopez Heredia Viña Todonia Blanco is delicious with age. Just had a '98 and it was exceptional.
slam dunk
I am sort of in love with how weird that website is… and the idea of umami wine. For a moment, my b.s. detctor warbled, then I looked at the restaurant list and those are very respectable places so this seems legit… with a horrible web developer. lol.
Will actually check these out. K&L has a few, it seems!
Fave pic, because it is sciency:
Wally’s Wine has an '81 for $275 but I feel like I can get better bang for that buck.
That IS exactly the producer I am most curious about though! just have to find the right retailer/auction.
Aha! Found a 2003 Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Blanco Reserva nearby! Will snag that this week/weekend.
White Bordeaux
Take a peek at Chenin Blanc. Beeswax is a common descriptor of the nose and texturally it can be quite interesting with age.
And Tondonia too, more $ but good value.
Barry,
I love Chave - young and old (but beware in between … tasting it in its closed stage is often a huge disapointment) …
… but, however, aged Chave is nothing like beewax, it´s about (roasted pea-)nuts, hazelnuts, honeysuckle, acacia, egg yolk, ripe figs, mango/peach/mandarines/litchi, sometimes petrol …
´85 and ´90 are fully mature …
Just FWIW
That’s a shame on the Musar white, but it isn’t that widely seen anyway. Definitely worth a try and it does age well.