White Wines You Should Try

If you want to be a smart shopper, you should have a basic understanding of the top wine varietals. There are plenty of other types of wines besides those listed below, and it's fun to experiment, but these are the biggest sellers. 

This post is about the whites. The next one will be the red wines.

I'll mention some of the most popular of each wine, so hopefully you can find these locally. Also listed of some of my favorites from Sonoma County that I hope you can find. You are more likely to see them in larger areas, Chicago, Dallas, etc., but maybe not Bozeman or Terre Haute. 

 

California's most famous Chardonnay
I found one for sale on wine-searcher
for $58,000

   Chardonnay

The country's top-selling white wine is originally from the Burgundy region of France. This grape when made into wine without winemaker intervention is typically fairly bland. Winemaking gives it those, toasty, buttery, fruity notes everyone loves. This style of what you might call heavy-handed winemaking was invented in California. 

The wines vary from those very buttery styles that are the most popular; to a leaner, crisper style known as a Burgundian style, as it more closely matches what is usually made in France. It might be labeled as unoaked. Chardonnay is also used in making sparkling wines.

Popular American Chardonnay runs from about $10 to $60 though there are others on both sides of those numbers. For the buttery, oaky style look for Kendall-Jackson, Cakebread, La Crema (from Kendall-Jackson), Rombauer, and Sonoma-Cutrer.  Mount Eden and Trefethen are a couple of wineries making the leaner style. From Sonoma County, Chateau St. Jean, Gary Farrell, Kistler, Lynmar, and Robert Young all make excellent Chards, but honestly there are many Chardonnays from the county that I'm not familiar with. Sonoma County produces more Chard than any other wine.

 

   Sauvignon Blanc

Often called crisp, refreshing, or zippy, this lean dry wine is from originally from the Bordeaux region of France. It's a great warm weather white because it is light and refreshing, especially when compared to the typical Chardonnay.  It can have flavors of citrus, tropical fruits, minerality, or grassy depending on where it is grown. New Zealand is famous for its grassy Sauv Blanc. Minerality is most often associated with French Sauv Blanc. The wine is sometimes labeled as Fumé Blanc, a term and style invented by Robert Mondavi.

Sauv Blanc is often blended, especially in France, with its "sister" grape, Sémillon. It can be made into a sometimes spectacular dessert wine, as with France's Chateau d'Yquem that is a Sémillon / Sauvignon Blanc blend. There are a number of late harvest Sauvigonon Blanc or Sauv Blanc / Sémillon desert wines made in California.

Some of the most popular Sauvignon Blancs are from Chalk Hill, Decoy, Dry Creek Valley, J Lohr, Kim Crawford (NZ), and Oyster Bay (NZ). Sonoma County's best Sauvignon Blanc might be from Hanna, Merry Edwards, and Quivira. I say "might" because I've tasted only a small percentage of what's available locally. Hanna Winery does a nice job every year and at a decent price.

 

   Riesling

A grape from Germany that has an interesting marriage of high acids balanced with sweetness, sometimes a little, sometimes enough to make a dessert wine.

When done well, Riesling can make some remarkable wines. It's also the most misunderstood wine in America because of its varying sweetness. When you pick up a bottle, how do you know if it's very dry, off dry, or maybe a dessert wine? 

This is the same with Gewürztraminer, btw. Riesling is more popular than Gewürztraminer in the U.S. probably because it's easier to pronounce. Say Gah verts trah meener.

There is little Riesling made in the U.S., most is in cooler climates that mimic Germany, mostly in Washington and New York with some in California, Michigan, and Oregon. Chateau St. Michelle is the best-known American Riesling, at least on the West Coast. Though once more popular, there are now only 55 acres of Riesling grown in Sonoma County. To the north, in Mendocino County's Anderson Valley, there is quite a bit, and it's good. The Central Coast of Calif is putting out some Riesling, too, though I haven't had any from there yet.

 

   Pinot Gris/Grigio

It's from Burgundy and believed to be a clone of Pinot Noir, but with grayish grapes (gris = gray in French; grigio = gray in Italian).  PG is a refreshing wine made in different ways depending on where it's grown and the climate. It can be crisp and clean (Italian/Grigio) to full-bodied and rich (French/Gris). American PG tends towards fruity, soft, a little sweet; a wine you drink with thinking about it.

If your only experience with this wine is the under $10 stuff, I'd suggest trying some from France and Italy. There is little of it grown in Sonoma or nearby; most of the state's PG is in the Central Valley where that $10 stuff comes from.

   Other White Wines to Discover

Albarino, Chenin Blanc, Gewürztraminer, Muscat, Pinot Blanc, Vermentino, Viognier

FWIW, I prefer Gewürztraminer to Riesling and have more recently become a fan of Albarino and Vermentino.