Should I age white wine? - Mouths of Mums

White wine is the perfect summer refreshment (and sometimes winter too!) and I have three simple rules for most white wine:

Buy it
Chill it
Open and drink it

There are white wines that age well (but these wines also taste great young so if in doubt, see the three rules above).

Here are a few examples for you to keep an eye out for:

Riesling from Germany or places in Australia like the Clare Valley (producers like Grosset, Kilkanoon, Leo Buring)
Semillon from the Hunter Valley (Tyrrell’s, Brokenwood, McWilliams)
Chardonnay from Burgundy or top Aussie (expensive) producers (like Leeuwin Estate, Giaconda or Mount Mary).

White wines that don’t age well lose their fruit and their freshness with time – basically they lose their mojo.

I do my best to avoid these wines more than a year or two old:

Sauvignon Blanc (or Savvy blends) from New Zealand, Australia or California
Pinot Gris/Grigio (from anywhere)
Most Rosé (OK it’s pink but the joy of Rosé is when it is fresh and young, pink can get old fast).
Any white wine under $20. The winemaker made it to drink now and she doesn’t want you to cellar it.

Have a wine question? Feel free to ask me in the comments below!

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.com

17 Comments

- - mom94125 said
  - 05 Sep 2016
    10:58 am
lol i like your 3 simple rules better lol. i never knew about doing this but these are great tips to keep in mind

- - Melissa89 said
  - 27 Jul 2016
    7:57 pm
I never knew that you could age it

- - june11 said
  - 08 Mar 2016
    7:17 pm
A friend of ours was given a part bottle of white wine that had been opened a few days beofre but she was driving so she hadn’t tasted it. It was off !!!

- - Some_Toss said
  - 15 Feb 2016
    5:57 pm
Lol. Sound advice indeed! Buy it, chill it, drink it! I love it!

- - mom101628 said
  - 09 Feb 2016
    11:59 pm
Haven’t bothered to age white wine though I did hear a Brown Brother once discourse on this subject and he thought they aged well. He also said that the wine should be decanted like we do red wines and left for a couple of hours before drinking.
Do what you want to do with wine, I say.

- - curlytops said
  - 07 Feb 2016
    11:22 am
intersting to read about the wines.

- - welshmummy said
  - 02 Feb 2016
    8:44 am
Very interesting article. Would love to learn more about wine.

- - mom74640 said
  - 01 Feb 2016
    1:38 pm
Lke fr

- - coastalkaryn said
  - 31 Jan 2016
    8:18 pm
I agree with the three points!
- mom94125 replied
  
  01 Feb 2016 , 2:52 pm
  haha i second that! lol great minds and all that….
- - mom160421 said
  - 31 Jan 2016
    4:10 pm
I kept a special bottle of white wine from the Margaret River area for a number of years hoping to open it on a special occasion. When that special occasion came along I opened the bottle of wine only to find that it was undrinkable What a shame.
- mom93821 replied
  
  04 Feb 2016 , 6:39 am
  This is always disappointing – something similar happened to us!
- - mom165081 said
  - 31 Jan 2016
    11:08 am
White wine is great fresh and young. It’s usually cheaper from the cellar door too.

- - mom112217 said
  - 31 Jan 2016
    10:06 am
Interesting article,we prefer red wine more than white unless it matches the meal!

- - rachelvk said
  - 31 Jan 2016
    9:42 am
An interesting article. Wine doesn’t last long enough in our house to age…

- - mom93821 said
  - 31 Jan 2016
    7:11 am
Thanks for the info on wine – very helpful!

- - mum4107 said
  - 31 Jan 2016
    5:49 am
Interesting to know. I don’t drink anymore