Summer Whites

There's more to the list of summer white wines than just Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio.

 Kenneth S. Boone

When asked to name the white wine that they prefer, most people will reply with either Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio; a few will say Sauvignon Blanc, and even fewer than that will say Riesling. Those grape varieties make some excellent wines, but they are only four of the hundreds of grapes used to produce white wine. As regular readers have learned over the past 15 years of perusing this column, many white wines are made using red wine grapes. Champagne, anyone? But that’s another story.

There are many alternatives to those four varietals and many styles within the group. An unoaked Chardonnay is quite different from one that has been aged in oak barrels. And Chablis wines have a unique style due to the soil in the region of France where they get their name. Chablis is Chardonnay but is nothing like the typical California concoctions that we often think a Chardonnay should taste like.