Quality white wines are a relatively new development in the wine world, and this category is really quite a recent addition to our dinnertime beverage choices.
For centuries, white wine wasn't produced very widely because it was fragile: It deteriorated fairly quickly. Since biblical times, most table wines have been red wine.
Red wines could be made that would last until they could be delivered to distant customers because they had constituents that protected them. White wines had no such substances and were often ravaged by ruinous oxidation.
Updated: Tue Apr 16, 2024