When browsing auctions for aged Sauternes, I often notice bottles from the same vintage and lot showing different colors. Sometimes the difference is subtle, other times more noticeable.
I’ve read this could come from cork variability and slightly different oxygen exchange rates over time, but also possibly from suboptimal storage conditions for the darker bottles.
What’s your take on this? Do you consider small color variation fairly safe, or is it something that makes you avoid the lot?
by No_Public3940
3 Comments
It’s pretty common. Unless the color differential was very different or it looked very prematurely oxidized, it wouldn’t concern me
They’re “safe” in the sense that you can drink them but if you mean safe as in buying the darker bottles to age for a long time further then it’s hard to say.
The color variation could be due to the cork or other factors like light exposure or heat.
If I’m buying a case of Sauternes (or other dessert wine) with age I’m generally not worried about the color variation between bottles in the same lot as long as I’m confident they were stored correctly. The bottles would have to be wildly different colors for me to be worried and the 3 from your example look fine.
You’re looking at the right producer