For those who are just starting to explore the wonderful world of wine, you may be somewhat confused by the vast variety of wines – reds, whites, bubbly, blends – and the many, many choices within each of those broad categories. We’ll focus on just one of those for this brief intro – white wines. We’ll give you a short tour of the most popular varietals (types of grapes), tell you what you can expect from each of them and what sets them apart from each other.
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is certainly the most popular white wine in America – in fact, it’s claimed to be the only white wine many wine lovers consume. Chardonnay is quite often the first white wine a new wine fan will try, largely because it is so easy to enjoy. Chardonnay is typically on the dry side, meaning that it’s not very sweet, and it tends to have flavors of tropical fruit, apples, vanilla, and butter, and degrees of oak, depending on the winery where it was produced. “White Burgundy”, from France, is almost always 100% Chardonnay. Many other wine regions throughout the world produce Chardonnay, including Chile and Australia. There are many good choices of American Chardonnay available for under $20. Popularand consistently reliable producers include Beaulieu Vineyards, Columbia Crest, and Chateau St. Michelle, among others.
Sauvignon Blanc
Sauvignon Blanc, also known as Fume Blanc, is another very popular white wine. Sauvignon Blanc is quite often described as “freshly mown”, meaning that it reminds the taster of freshly mown grass. It is a medium-bodied white wine with fruity aromas like grapefruit, melon, and peach, and is dry and refreshing with medium acidity. Sauvignon Blanc is a great wine for summer, especially good with seafood and it’s one of the best all around matches for hors d’oeuvres and picnics. A very nice choice, for under 15 dollars, is produced by Babich (New Zealand).
Pinot Grigio
Pinot Grigio, also referred to as Pinot Gris (the actual grape’s name), is Italy’s most popular white wine, and is popular throughout the world, although the Italian Pinot Grigios can be somewhatbland. Pinot Grigios are easy to drink, because they have a crisp, light taste. The Pinot Gris offerings from Oregon tend to have more character, having medium body, with more readily noticeable fruit and more acidity. Better bottles have fruity flavors of apple, pear, honeydew and some spice. A couple of very nice Pinot Gris from Oregon, available at between $12-$18, are Chateau St. Michelle and King Estate, among others.
Riesling
Riesling wines are generally considered the most popular German wine, and they are produced in two vastly different styles – dry and sweet. Rieslings are categorized by the ripeness of the grapes when picked. Kabinett signifiesnormally ripe grapes, and is a light to medium-bodied, mostly dry wine. You’ll oftensee the word “trocken” on a bottle of Riesling, which means “dry” in German. “Spatlese” is made from grapes picked when riper, and results in a bit richer, slightlysweeter, wine. “Auslese”, which means late harvest, is made from even riper grapes, and is often quitesweet. Rieslings are typically fruity, with peach, honeysuckle, and apple flavors and floral undertones. Rieslings are relatively inexpensive – you can find excellent selections for under $10. One consistently excellentchoice is Strub Niertsteiner Riesling Kabinett, along withChateau Ste. Michelle Riesling.
Gewurztraminer
Gewurztraminer is another very well-knownGerman white wine, while also being produced in the U.S., France, New Zealand, and Australia. Gewurztraminer is also availablein both dry and sweet styles. Gewurztraminers have a brazen, full-bodied taste, considerably more so than most other whites. Typical aromas found inGewurztraminer are lychee nuts and rosewater, and its flavors include apricot, honeysuckle, and honey. A nice, inexpensive Gewurztraminer is available fromTrimbach (France, under $15).
A final note
The best way to determine your preferencesin white wine is to just pick out a samplingof bottles, and just try them. For each varietal, you’ll want to choose a bottle that’s representative of the style you’re investigating. Websites like Wine.com can be very helpfulwith finding solid, yet inexpensive choices. Once you find a varietal and producer you like, you might want to pick up a case to have on hand for entertaining, or to just enjoy at home. Most white wines do not improve with aging, so you shouldn’t keep them around for years. However, you dowant to be careful to store your wine properly, so they retainthe wonderful flavors and aromas you expect. You might consider investingin an small wine fridge, to keep all your wines at their best.
White wines are best served chilled, so it’s a good idea to refrigerate them beforehand, then take them outabout 15-20 minutes before serving. Better yet, you might want topurchase an electric wine chiller, which will chill (or warm) a single bottle of wineto the best temperature automatically – just select the pre-programmedwine varietal, insert the bottle, and the chiller will cool your wine to the best temperature, and keep your wine at that temperaturethroughout your wine tasting.