White Wine Types An introduction to white wine types, their characteristics and the foods that go with them.
Understanding wine could be seen as an artform rather than a science.
Different grape varieties have certain recognisable characteristics, but the wine they produce can vary greatly depending on where the grape is grown, what the weather was doing at the time, and, most importantly, who made it.
Chardonnay wines can be still or sparkling. Good ones are full-bodied and tend to be dry (not sweet) with a good balance between acid and sweet.
Chardonnay flavours include stone fruits such as peach and apricot, citrus such as lemon, lime, grapefruit and tangerine, and even tropical flavours such as melon, pineapple and mango. Other tones include butter, vanilla and oak.
Chardonnay matches well with poultry, full-flavoured seafood dishes, light meat dishes, or meals based on green vegetables.
This complicated-looking word is pronounced “ga-VERTZ-trah-MEE-ner”, but despite the German name, this grape originates in Italy and is successfully grown in France. It produces a pungent, aromatic wine with a golden colour with a strong, heady flavour.
Tones of peach, mango and lychee combine with honeysuckle, rose petals and allspice in this wine.
Gewürztraminer goes well with simple pork, fish and chicken dishes. It may also match well with curry and Asian food. It can also work well as a dessert wine.
Pinot Gris
Pinot gris, when grown in Italy, is called Pinot grigio, and is also known by that name in California. It has other names too, such as pinot beurot in Burgundy. Pinot gris is a mutation of the pinot noir grape, a red variety. The pinot blanc grape is a mutation of pinot gris.
Pinot gris is a dry (meaning not sweet) wine with flavours of apple, pear, peach and lemon, combined with tones of vanilla and almond.
The wine goes well with light lobster, chicken or eggplant dishes combined with heavier sauces. It can be served with richer dishes too.
Knitting and Sauvignon Blanc Gary Vaynerchuck from Wine Library TV talks Sauvignon Blancs from New Zealand, Chile and California
Even More Fast Facts About White Wine Types
Riesling
Riesling tends to be a fresh, light, sweet wine but depending on where it is grown can be more on the dry side.
Riesling often has a floral and apple aroma and has tones of stone and tropical fruits, and minerals such as flint and steel.
Rieslings pair well with sausage, seafood dishes and Asian food. Its sweetness makes it a great dessert wine.
Sauvignon Blanc
Sauvignon Blanc is sometimes known in the USA as Fumé Blanc.
Sauvignon Blanc tends to be a light, tangy, crisp wine but can range from dry to sweet. It is characterised by herbal notes of freshly cut grass and bell pepper, as well as fruity flavours of grapefruit, gooseberry, tropical fruits, and lime. It can also include buttery or smoky notes, the latter being the origin of the name Fumé Blanc.
This wine pairs well with white meats, salads and fish, but can also stand up to rich or pungent foods that other whites would struggle with.
"I don't have a sense of entitlement or that I deserve this. You'd be surprised at the lack of competition between nominees - I think a lot of it's imposed from the outside. Can I have my champagne now?" Cate Blanchett
"You could say one wine is like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz while another is like the mature Judy Garland, or that a big voluptuous chardonnay is like Marilyn Monroe -- round, bosomy -- you can remember that chardonnay, ... If you say a wine is snappy and lively, like Robin Williams, that's very different than the Anthony Hopkins of wine -- urbane, sophisticated, measured, considered." Karen MacNeil
