Dear Dr. Vinny,
Can you age dessert Sauvignon Blanc wines with high residual sugar like you can a good late-harvest beerenauslese or trockenbeerenauslese German Riesling? Should these wines be consumed young, like dry bottlings, or can you keep them in your cellar for 10 years or more?
—John, Dallas
Dear John,
Sweet wines, particularly those made from Sauvignon Blanc, have an amazing reputation for aging well, sometimes for over a century. Consider the iconic Château d’Yquem, a sweet Sauternes that fetches eye-popping prices at auction when aged. A 20-year-old bottle of Yquem will still be considered young. These wines are very similar to late-harvest German Rieslings in that they’re highly ageworthy and beloved by collectors. They’re also made in a similar way, though in different places and with different grapes.
Like many sweet wines from Sauternes (and neighboring Barsac), Yquem is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon. (Some Sauternes also contain Muscadelle.) As with beerenauslese and trockenbeerenauslese Rieslings, the grapes are harvested late and purposefully allowed to be infected by noble rot, or botrytis, which helps concentrate the sugar even more.
While Sauternes is the most famous example of a late-harvest Sauvignon Blanc, winemakers all over the world make late-harvest bottlings of this and other white grapes, with and without botrytis. Pretty much all of these should be highly ageworthy. (Note that some dry Sauvignon Blancs, especially the best-made examples from the Loire Valley, including some Sancerres, can also age surprisingly well—though not as long as their sweet counterparts.)
Why do sweet wines age so well? It all has to do with sugar and acidity, which help the wine age gracefully and improve over many decades. The sugar and acidity in a sweet wine won’t go away, but they do set the stage for the wine to evolve slowly and wonderfully. As the wine ages, it’ll develop notes of marmalade, honey-drenched desserts and even nutty, marzipan-like flavors.
How should you drink these wines? I like to enjoy a well-aged sweet wine all by itself as a meditative dessert in a glass. They also pair beautifully with cheese—blue cheese is a classic pairing, but I also like Gouda—as well as crème brûlée or pear- and apple-based desserts. Remember to serve it slightly chilled, but not too cold, so that the wine shows its best. And invite me over to share a glass!
—Dr. Vinny
