Halfwine.com

As you no doubt know, wines in half bottles age about twice as fast as those in full bottles. Is this a problem half bottles of white wine? Well, it depends on the wine.

Some white wines are designed to be aged. White Burgundy, German Rieslings, Sauvignon Blancs from Sancerre and Pouilly Fume come to mind. We have drunk 20 year old wines from all these categories and they were splendid; different from young wines, far more complex with nutty flavours. Generally, white wines that have been oaked need some time in the bottle for the oak to integrate and so aging adds to rather than diminishes the wine.

However, most white wines rely on their freshness for their appeal. We taste our white wines regularly to ensure that they are not losing their freshness. We have very few half bottles of white wine that are more than 3 years old and those that are, are slowly evolving into their nutty, complex stage.

We have established separate sections for the most common types of white wine, that is, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. The rest we group under the Other heading. But this is no way implies that they are inferior, just that one comes across them less often. Included in this heading one finds, for example,
Riesling – wines from France, Germany and Australia. If you want to compare these styles we have a tasting pack of Rieslings
Wines of a style similar to Sauvignon Blanc – a blend from Alentejo in Portugal and an Albariño
Wines sort of half way between a Chardonnay and Sauvignon – Muscadet, Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio and Chenin Blanc from Vouvray
Gewurztraminer – a highly aromatic and complex wine with lychee notes