With Spring in full bloom in the north, it’s time to embrace the moment as a perfect opportunity to expand your white wine horizons. Use the tried and true “ABC” approach — “Anything But Chardonnay.”
While there is a chardonnay white to fit every taste, it can be fun to explore white wine alternatives. Discovering new grape varieties delivers diverse aromas, zesty flavors and subtle textures to perk up jaded tastebuds.
Choosing white wines without lot of oak influences creates endless possibilities for food pairings. Try the dishes from the grape growing regions of the wines for a departure from more familiar food and wine paths.
And good bargains abound with “ABC” wines even with modest shipping charges with online purchases. In fact, you might just find new favorites that cost less than your favorite chardonnays which frequently command premium prices. Try the following “ABC” little gems:
• The 2018 Domaine des Cassagnoles, “Reserve Selection” Cuvée Gros Manseng, Côtes de Gascogne, France (Available nationally on-line through various wine merchants on www.wine-searcher.com for around $11.00) comes from Gascony in South West, France. Growers use Gros Manseng grapes for modest white wines of generally good quality and value. This tasty, fresh wine delivers grapefruit and light grassy aromas. Citrus, quince and peach flavors follow balanced by snappy, fresh acidity, a touch of creaminess and a clean, dry finish. Enjoy it as a refreshing aperitif with almonds and olives. Recommended.
• The 2017 Guilhem et Jean-Hugues, Bourgogne Aligoté, France (available by shipping from Gary’s Wines at 888-99-GARYS or online at garyswine.com; $18.99) comes from aligoté grapes grown in Saint Bris in northern Burgundy. Highly prized limestone and clay soils surround this quiet, medieval village for a terroir similar to more famous vineyards in neighboring Chablis. Until recently aligoté has been dismissed as Burgundy’s “secondary” white grape. But with careful guidance from dedicated growers, stunning, delicious aligoté wines are possible. This wine’s irresistible purity and precise balance reflect the Goisot family’s meticulous, labor-intensive biodynamic vineyard work and their minimalist winemaking methods. The wine’s fruity, floral aromas and vibrant, crisp texture offer a nice contrast to chicken thighs with a sauce of cream, grated Comté cheese, white wine and Dijon mustard. Highly Recommended.
• The delicious 2017 Weingut Hans Wirsching, Scheurebe, V.D.P. Gutswein Franken, Germany (Available from Saratoga Wine for $19.94) comes from Scheurebe (pronounced Shoy-ray-bah ), a grape variety unfamiliar to most American wine drinkers. First cultivated in 1916 by Georg Scheu, the grape derives from a hybrid of riesling and a mysterious wild vine known only to Herr Sheu. This delicious Scheurebe delivers exotic perfumes of black currants, elder flowers, grapefruit and nutmeg. Fresh, fleshy fruit flavors of mango, pineapple and grapefruit balance with pronounced acidity. The wine may “smell sweet,” but it finishes dry and beautifully balanced. Pair it with a Thai red curry and brown rice — a perfect bottle for BYOB restaurants. Highly recommended.
• The 2017 Bodegas Pazo de Señoráns Albariño, Rías Baixas, Spain (Available nationally on-line through various wine merchants on www.wine-searcher.com for around $11.00) offers a superb introduction to one of the ultimate “ABC” whites, albariño. The grape finds its natural home along the wind swept, rainy coastal inlets of Galicia in northwestern Spain. The area’s cooling maritime breezes and granite soils yield albariño fruit that is intensely perfumed and ripe, yet fresh and beautifully structured. In 1970s,
Marisol Bueno recognized albariño’s potential for international recognition when she restored Bodegas Pazo de Señoráns. This traditional Galician country manor sits surrounded by trellised vineyards, a formal garden, a dovecote and cypress trees. Today her children carry on the effort to make quality wines in traditional style. This wine’s lovely aromas of apples, peaches and citrus open to flavors of pineapple and citrus. Refreshing acidity and mouthwatering minerality carry the elegant, dry finish. Pair the wine with halibut baked with herbs. Highly recommended.
Do you have a favorite “ABC” white wine of your own? Pass it own in the comments below and cheers!