Early indications suggest that 2013 -a forgettable vintage for many reds -will see some excellent white wines coming onto the market.

The first of the major wine critics' scores have already been published and this is a year for white wine lovers. Wine Spectator's James Molesworth described the 2013 Chateau Haut-Brion white as "possibly the wine of the vintage" and gave high preliminary scores to Chateau d'Yquem and Chateau Doisy Daene. The reds from the vintage were far lower on the scoreboard.

Former Wine Spectator editor, James Suckling, described the Yquem as "Really superb...a monument to the vintage", and scored it 98-99 points. He also awarded high scores and praise to the whites from Domaine de Chevalier and La Mission Haut-Brion.

"Despite the difficult the vintage for wine producers in France's famous wine region, the whites I tasted from barrel in late March were phenomenal," he noted in a tasting report on his website.

"The dry whites have a marvelous mineral character and creamy texture due to their bright and lively acidities," he explained.

"The sweet whites have a fabulous intensity of spicy botrytis character that manifests itself in the wines as a solid core of sweet and intense fruit."

Back vintages of sweet whites have also been performing well on the secondary market, with Lafite-owned Chateau Rieussec and AXA's Chateau Suduiraut increasing sharply in value, according to the latest monthly overview from fine wine trading platform Liv-ex.

In March, the five major market movers included 2007 Rieussec, which rose 16.7 percent in value, while the 2002 lifted by 12.6 percent. The 2010 Suduiraut went up by 12.3 percent.

The 2013 Suduiraut was released on Monday, priced around 460 pounds ($764) per 12-bottle case, excluding duty and sales taxes.