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- Misty - 03-24-2001
I just found this site tonight and have found it to be so helpful. I have been trying to find information about white wines for years and have not been very successful as most people drink more red wines than white. I can not have any red (or even rose') due to migraines.
I use to think that the only white wines that had any flavor were German wines, mostly Reislings. I prefer a wine that is more dry but has a touch of sweetsness and lots of flavor. I do not like strong Oak flavor. After reading alot of the other posts here, I now have a new list to try.
Thanks to all of you!
If anyone has any specific suggestions I would appreciate them.
- hotwine - 03-24-2001
Welcome to the board, Misty. For some words on another white wine, see our discussion of Viognier at http://www.wines.com/ubb2/Forum22/HTML/000105.html.
- Bucko - 03-24-2001
When it comes to white wines, it is ABC for us -- Anything But Chardonnay. We drink a lot of German Riesling at the Spatlese and Auslese levels, Alsace Gewurtztraminer and Pinot Gris, and Loire Sauvennieres (Chenin Blanc that no where resembles the wines here) and Sancerre (Sauvignon Blanc). We do enjoy several Sauvignon Blancs from CA and from NZ. On limited occasions we drink a Viognier, Marsanne, Rousanne or Semillon.
Bucko
- Innkeeper - 03-25-2001
Agree with all of Bucko's recommendations, except to say that we are ABOC, anything but oaked chardonnay. The nonoaky chards are fairly easy to find if you know how to go about it. First there is Burgundy. Both northern and southern Burgundy make mostly oak free chardonnay. Middle Burgundy makes huge, expensive, oak tinged chardonnay that Americans try to emulate and end up with just oaky chardonnay.
In the north you find Chablis (real Chablis). This is almost as far north as the grape grows, with Champagne being just a little further north. The wine is often described as flinty and/or steely, and IMHO many have to acquire a taste for it. In the south is Macon, and the wines from there are collectively called Maconnaise. These are bigger and rounder than Chablis, and more like what Americans are used to. They include Macon Villages, Macon Lugny, St Veran, and Pouilly Fuisse. A Macon Lugny called "Les Charmes" Cave de Lugny is very nice and available almost everywhere.
There are also an increasing selection of "unwooded" chardonnays from Australia and New Zealand. There are also nonoaky American Chardonnays. They are hard to find, and usually from smaller producers. The best bet is to visit wineries and ask them how they make their chardonnay. It it is all stainless steel operation without any giant tea bags of oak chips, you have just found what you are looking for. One we found this way is Tobin James in Paso Robles.
Some people, like Bucko, would say "Why bother?" Chardonnay without oak can frequently be a one dimensional wine. Well, we have had some that have had dimensions added by terroir and aged vines among other things. Also have found ourselves in seafood restaurants where there was nothing but chardonnay on the wine list. Knowing how to pick out the unoaked ones helps in that situation. You will also have house guests who will ask, "Do you have a glass of chardonnay?"
[This message has been edited by Innkeeper (edited 03-27-2001).]
- Lil Ryan - 03-26-2001
It seems that this wineboard seems to dislike Chards and White Zins. Anyone care to explain?
Ryan
- Innkeeper - 03-26-2001
The posting just above yours is not about rain water, and is positive not negative. Just four days ago there was a postive posting under Blush/Pink Wines titled "A Decent White Zin."
Having said that, there is a nonuniversal sentiment among many board members that chardonnay and oak don't go well together. This doesn't reflect the opinion of the general public since millions of bottles of oaky chard are sold every year. My personal beef is twofold. First we don't drink much white wine period. When we do we want it to taste like wine not like a tree. Since chardonnay is a rather simple wine to begin with, the oak frequently completely overpowers it. Secondly we live on the coast of Maine, and eat a lot of seafood. Most of this is shellfish and lighter finfish such as haddock. Oak and this kind of seafood is like oil and water, they simply don't go together. Oily fish such as bluefish, mackerel, and fresh tuna can handle some oak, but we usually drink red wine with those, such as Beaujolais.
White zinfandel is another story. Sutter Home didn't invent it, but they made zillions on it. Their marketing ploy was to wean people off of soda pop and bottled wine coolers. To do this they had to make an almost noxiously sweet concoction. It was very successful, and it served to introduce millions of new people to wine. Lots of other producers jumped on this train because of Sutter Home's success, and because there was a lot of zin laying around. Cabernet sauvigon had just replaced Big Red Zin as the red wine of choice among Americans.
Most board members would agree that there is a place for rose' wine in the wine world. There are hundreds of delightful roses' produced here and abroad, including some versions of white zin, such as the one Barnsey posted last week. For summertime quaffing and hot dogs and hamburgers these wines are hard to beat. We like a nice grenache rose' with simple preparations of salmon.
- winecollector - 03-26-2001
It was taking a very long time for my computer to open this page, now I know why. Thought it might have been Mr D's doing, but it was Innkeeper instead....
Anyway, the only time I usually drink Chardonnay, is if there is nothing else available, and I have a meal needs a white wine to go with it. It is not that I do not like Chardonnay, but that I enjoy other whites such as Sauvignon Blanc, or Grunner Veltliner better. However, I did recently have a Pennsylvania made Chardonnay, from Glades Pike Winery, that though it was high priced for a PA wine, thought I would try it. Opened it with a four course meal, which included langastino, and t-bone steaks. I was very suprised, as it work well with both seafood and beef. I will not hesitate to buy more.
I enjoyed Carl Sagan's version above, of how the universe of white zin came to be! I don't drink it much myself anymore, but I will serve it for guests that do not normally drink wine, especially when I am out of soda-pop.