Wine Insiders |

For those who are just beginning to delve into the wonderful world of wine, you may be somewhat confused by the huge variety of wines – reds, whites, blends, bubblies – and the multitude of choices within each of those broad categories. We’ll choose 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 distinguishes them from each other.

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is absolutely the most enjoyed white wine in the U.S. – in fact, it’s quite commonly the only white wine many wine lovers buy. Chardonnay is commonly the first white wine a new wine explorer 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 frequently has flavors of tropical fruit, apples, vanilla, and butter, and a varying amount of oak, depending on where it was produced. “White Burgundy”, from France, is almost always pure Chardonnay. Many other wine regions across the world produce Chardonnay, among them Chile and Australia. There are many good choices of American Chardonnay available for under $20. Well-knownand consistently reliable producers include Beaulieu Vineyards, Columbia Crest, and Chateau St. Michelle, among others.

Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc, sometimes called Fume Blanc, is another very popular white wine. Sauvignon Blanc is quite often described as “freshly mown”, indicating that it reminds the taster of freshly mown grass. It is a medium-bodied white wine with noticeably fruity aromas like peach, grapefruit, and melon, and is dry and refreshing with medium acidity. Sauvignon Blanc is a wonderful summer wine, especially good with seafood and it’s one of the best all around matches for hors d’oeuvres and picnics. Babich (New Zealand) produces a very nice Sauvignon Blanc for under 15 dollars.

Pinot Grigio

Pinot Grigio, sometimes called Pinot Gris (the actual grape name), is Italy’s most popular white wine, and is popular throughout the world, although the Italian Pinot Grigios are typically somewhatbland. Pinot Grigios are easy to drink, due to their 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 pear, apple, honeydew and a touch of 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 quite possibly the most popular German wine, and they are produced in two considerably different styles – dry and sweet. Rieslings are categorized by the ripeness of the grapes when picked. Kabinett indicatesnormally ripe grapes, and is a light to medium-bodied, mostly dry wine. You’ll sometimesfind the word “trocken” on a bottle of Riesling, which is German for “dry”. “Spatlese” is made from grapes picked later, and results in a bit richer, slightlysweeter, wine. “Auslese”, which means late harvest, is made from even more ripe grapes, and is usually quitesweet. Rieslings are typically fruity, with apple, peach, and honeysuckle flavors and floral undertones. Rieslings are relatively inexpensive – you can find excellent offerings for under $10. One reliably very goodchoice is Strub Niertsteiner Riesling Kabinett, as isChateau Ste. Michelle Riesling.

Gewurztraminer

Gewurztraminer is another popularGerman white wine, while also being produced in Australia, New Zealand, France, and the U.S. Gewurztraminer is also availablein both dry and sweet styles. Gewurztraminers have a brash, full-bodied taste, much more so than most other white wines. Typical aromas commonly found inGewurztraminer are rosewater and lychee nuts, and its flavors include apricot, honeysuckle, and honey. A nice, inexpensive Gewurztraminer is 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 give them a try. For each varietal, you’ll want to choose a bottle that’s representative of the style you’re wanting to experiment with. Websites such as Wine.com can be very helpfulwith finding solid, yet inexpensive choices. Once you find a varietal and style and producer you like, you might want to buy a case to have handy for entertaining, or to just enjoy at home. Most white wines do not improve with age, so you probably should not keep them around for years. You do, however,want to be sure to properly store your wine, so they maintainthe wonderful flavors and aromas you expect. You might consider investingin an inexpensive wine fridge, to keep all your wines at their absolute best.

White wines are best served chilled, so you might want to refrigerate them beforehand, then remove themabout 15-20 minutes before serving. Better yet, is topurchase an electric wine chiller, which will chill (or warm) a single bottle of wineto the optimal temperature automatically – just select the pre-programmedwine varietal, insert the bottle, and the chiller will cool your wine to the best temperature, and maintain that temperaturethroughout your wine tasting.

Posted by wineauthor under Wine Insider | Comments Off |