5 Great Age-Worthy WHITE WINES (For Your Wine Cellar)

Hi everybody, this is Agnes from No Sediment and today we're going to talk about 5 great age-worthy white wines that you can easily forget in your cellar, just to open them 10 years later and be amazed by their wonderful complexity. As I discussed in my other video on 5 great age-worthy red wines, wine is the only agricultural product that not only can be aged for several years or decades, but with time become better, more complex and sometimes even increase in price significantly. I have to be honest though, it's not the case for most of the wines that we can find on retail shelves. Those will be best drunk young, fresh and while full of bright fruit. Today I will be looking more closely at age-worthy white wines. Some might associate cellaring more with red wines. However, there are great white wines across the globe for which 10 years of cellaring is nothing. I have tasted 20-year-old white wines that I have deemed opened too soon. Similarly as last time, I will not be looking at the usual suspects, Burgundy and Bordeaux, because those deserve videos on their own. So let's start. These are 5 great age-worthy white wines that you can stack your cellar with. Last time I started with number 1 red wine in my cellar, which is Barolo. So this time let's start with the most represented white wine in my cellar, which is Grüner Veltliner from region Wachau. Wachau is a small winemaking region in Austria overlooking Danube river and located approximately an hour drive from Vienna. Two main grape varieties planted here are internationally known Riesling and local grape Grüner Veltliner. Wachau region also has a unique quality hierarchy for their wines, based on when and how ripe grapes are harvested. Those are Steinfeder, Federspiel and Smaragd. The true age-worthy wines are found under the Smaragd category. They can be made from grapes harvested throughout the Wachau region or from a single vineyard. Grüner Veltliner Smaragd wines will almost always show high fruit concentration with yellow pears, apricots and notes of white pepper. They will often be full-bodied, yet the acidity lifts up the wine and refreshes the palate. These wines can stand proudly next to some of the mightiest white burgundies and can easily be aged for 10 or more years. Outside the better-known Sansset and Puy Fumet, white wines from Loire Valley are greatly, greatly underrated. Wine professionals love Vouvray wines and will often exaggerate their aging potential by saying, well, this wine can easily be aged 50 years. Easy! I myself don't know because I've never tasted a 50-year-old Vouvray, but these wines definitely have the acidity to age, to age long. Vouvray is made from Chenin Blanc grape variety that is known to have high levels of mouth-watering acidity. At young age, it shows crunchy green and yellow apple notes, often combined with chalky minerality. Riper examples might express more exotic fruit and sweet spices, even though the wine has never been aged in oak. Another interesting point is that these wines can be made in different sweetness levels, dry, semi-sweet and sweet, and they all are great. With age, Vouvray can develop honeyed fruit flavors, smoky characters, notes of almond and bruised apple. If Vouvray really can age, as professionals say, for 50 years, then paying for a bottle 25 to 50 euros seems a very reasonable price. Another great winemaking region carved by a river, this time it's the picturesque Mosel. Almost all Mosel Wally is dedicated to one grape variety, Riesling. This region can produce light-bodied white wines with fresh citrus fruit-dominated nose and delicate sweetness at the back palate, which is so easy to enjoy. But the greatest examples will be made from grapes harvested on south-facing and probably steepest slopes in the world. They will have an intense nose of white blossom, preserved lemon and quince, light, almost levitating body, and bright acidity. Mosel Rieslings used to be associated with some sweetness on the palate, which to me was never overpowering or cloaking. It played the balancing act for piercingly high acidity while wine reached its maturity. Nowadays, there are increasing number of bone-dry Rieslings. Because of their intensity and high acidity, the greatest Mosel Rieslings can be aged for 20 years easy. With age, they might even develop more pronounced nose with dried lime and grapefruit notes, candied apples, and some might even show hints of petrol and smoky quality. Hunter Wally Sémillon is a very unique wine style that could be quite difficult to find anywhere else. Hunter Wally is located in New South Wales, Australia and is known to have very hot yet humid climate with great cloud coverage. Sémillon from this region is dry with alcohol level towards lower side at around 10-11% and high cleansing acidity. In their youth, these wines are somewhat neutral or non-aromatic, driven by zesty citrus fruit flavors. The classical style is never aged in oak. With bottle age, this wine develops very complex and inviting bouquet with honey, yellow fruits, dried white blossom, and what is most interesting with hints of almonds, smoke, and toast. It almost feels oak aged but it's not. Because most of these wines will be bottled under screw cup, it is also a great example that you can age wines under screw cup with ease. Best examples will still be very lively after 20 or more years. Now this might come as a shock to some of you. First of all, Rioja is usually associated with high quality red wines. Secondly, not all white wines from Rioja are meant for aging. Some of them are great refreshment in hot summers with their juicy character. Yet, there are absolutely great white wines made based on Viura grape variety with additions of Malvasia and or Garnacha Blanca. Those Rioja white wines that can be cellared will most likely be fermented and or aged in oak barrels. Depending on the producer of course but in my opinion, these wines can be aged from 10 to 30 years and still bring freshness and depth of the fruit without being tired or oxidized. Intensity of the flavors is incredibly high while hints of development and oak aging will only increase the complexity both on the nose and palate. I often find on the nose dry white flowers, lemon peel, smoked pineapple, yes, that is a thing, honeyed peaches and hints of vanilla bean. Gorgeous wines. So here you go, these are five great age-worthy white wines for your cellar. But don't forget to stock your cellar with red wines as well. So here is the video on five great age-worthy red wines.