Online Guitar Super Store

A Quick Introduction to White Wines Around the World

If you’re just starting to experience the wonderful world of wine, you may be somewhat confused by the amazing variety of wines whites, reds, blends, bubblies and the multitude of choices within each of those wide categories. We’ll choose just one of those for this brief intro white wines. We’ll provide a short tour of the most popular varietals (types of grapes), tell you what you can expect from each and what sets them apart from each other.

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is absolutely the most consumed white wine in America in fact, it’s claimed to be the only white wine many wine drinkers consume. Chardonnay is quite often the first white wine a new wine explorer will sample, largely because it is so easy to enjoy. Chardonnay tends to be on the dry side, meaning that it’s not very sweet, and it usually has flavors of tropical fruit, apples, vanilla, and butter, and a varying amount of oak, depending on the winery where it was produced. White Burgundy, from France, is nearly always 100% Chardonnay. Many other wine regions around the world produce Chardonnay, among them Chile and Australia. It’s fairlyeasy to obtain good choices of American Chardonnay available for under $20. Well-knownand reliable producers include BV, Columbia Crest, and Chateau St. Michelle, among others.

Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc, sometimes called Fume Blanc, is another favorite 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 fruity aromas like grapefruit, melon, and peach, and is dry and refreshing with medium acidity. Sauvignon Blanc is a great wine for enjoyment in summer, especially good with seafood and it’s a great match for light snacks and picnics. Babich (New Zealand) offers 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 can be a littlebland. Pinot Grigios are easy to drink, because they have a crisp, light taste. The Pinot Gris offerings from Oregon tend to have more character, offering medium body, with more pronounced fruit and more acidity. Better bottles have fruity flavors of pear, apple, honeydew and a bit of spice. Two very nice Pinot Gris from Oregon, available for 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 extremely different styles dry and sweet. Rieslings are categorized by the ripeness of the grapes when picked. Kabinett is made fromnormally ripe grapes, and is a light to medium-bodied, mostly dry wine. You’ll oftenfind the word trocken on a bottle of Riesling, which means dry in German. “Spatlese” is produced from grapes picked when riper, and results in a bit richer, slightlysweeter, wine. Auslese, which means late harvest, is made from an even riper grape, and is usually verysweet. Rieslings are typically fruity, with apple, peach, and honeysuckle tastes and floral undertones. Rieslings are relatively inexpensive – you can find excellent offerings for under $10. One reliably excellentchoice is Strub Niertsteiner Riesling Kabinett, as well asChateau Ste. Michelle Riesling.

Gewurztraminer

Gewurztraminer is another well-knownwhite wine from Germany, while also being produced in Australia, New Zealand, France, and the U.S. Gewurztraminer is also madein both dry and sweet styles. Gewurztraminers have a brash, full-bodied taste, considerably more so than most other white wines. Typical aromas found inGewurztraminer are lychee nuts and rosewater, and its flavors include pear, apricot, cinnamon, 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 just try them for yourself. For each varietal, you’ll want to choose a bottle that’s typical of the style you’re wanting to experiment with. Websites like Wine.com can help immenselywith finding solid, yet inexpensive choices. Once you find a type and producer you find particularly enjoyable, you might want to buy a case to have on hand for entertaining, or to just enjoy at home. Most white wines won’t improve with aging, so you won’t want to keep them around for years. You do, however,want to be sure to properly store your wine, 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 you might want to refrigerate them beforehand, then take them outabout 15-20 minutes before serving. Better yet, you may want tobuy an iceless wine chiller, which will chill (or warm) a single wine bottleto the perfect temperature automatically just select the pre-programmedwine varietal, pop in the bottle, and the chiller will cool your wine to the optimal temperature, and keep your wine at the right temperaturethroughout your wine tasting.