Does oaked Sauvignon Blanc make old bones?

This tasting of older vintages of oaked Sauvignon Blanc from Bordeaux and the Loire turned out to be a classic case of inconclusiveness but an interesting experiment. On the whole, I found that the wines from Bordeaux, and thus those with some Sémillon in the blend, had aged more gracefully than the varietal Sauvignon Blanc wines from the Loire, but it was difficult to identify any consistent explanation (eg exact place of origin or winemaking choices) for why some wines had aged better than others, especially since there were so many different pairs of vintages. I think the organisers –...