It’s a British Thing

Tastes line up regionally. This is a truism a lot of Americans forget when buying wine.

Just about every culture in the world has a food or two that it cleaves to, yet which sickens others. Kimchee, ancient eggs and fried blood, to name just three.

Though not as extreme, the taste for old white wine is not an American proclivity, it’s a British thing. Look through any British wine journal and see the paroxysms of joy relating to 20-year-old Chablis, 30-year-old Rheingau or 50-year-old Alsatian Gewurztraminer.

Are they good wines? Well, the Brits like ‘em. J. Michael Broadbent, one of the most esteemed wine tasters in history, raves about such wines in his writings. And a number of American wine collectors, having read these remarks and having found these wines, taste them, find similar elements in them and they too begin to spout of the glories of old white wine.

Most of us regular folks like white wine young, fresh and fruity. Most white wine is best that way.

I taste a lot of the older white wines. Most are amusing, some are gagging, all are enlightening. It’s fascinating to see how a white wine ages, even if it’s undrinkable.

But from what I see and hear, a lot of American wine collectors are brainwashing themselves into thinking that the wines they are buying today will live a decade or two.

Most will not. Most will be less enjoyable five years from the vintage date than were on the day of release. Though these people act as if they have treasures beyond measure when they show you stacks of old Chardonnays, they’ll find out the hard way.

So when you hear that someone is going ga-ga over an old Chardonnay and you realize that that someone has English roots, take the remarks with a dot of sodium chloride. That’s what he likes.

Likewise, don’t expect to convince a Brit that you are right to be liking a fresh, young, vibrant 1993 Chardonnay. That’s what we like.