Here’s a quick note to my younger self: You will like white wine one day.
I started out drinking red wine in my early 20’s mostly because, I’ll admit, I was embarking on my career in fitness and wanted to enjoy social drinking without killing my gut and calorie budget. Red wine seemed like the way to go. I started drinking merlot (a good entry-level variety), then cabernet, then tempranillo….then I became a red wine equal-opportunist. I guess it sort of negates the calorie-dodging argument if you go into full fledged wino mode, huh?
With all the wine drinking I was doing never did I get excited about white wines. Don’t take this personally, my white-wine-loving friends, but I actually thought white wine was for wimps. To me it was the equivalent of ordering a wine spritzer and the only people I knew who drank white wine were my girly friends who always complained about their weight and ordered salad for dinner everywhere we went never mind the fact that it was covered in crispy fried chicken and ranch dressing. (Enter Despicable Me Minion voice here: “Whaaaat?!”)
It wasn’t until Von started making wine that I gave white wine a shot. In fact, the first wine he ever made was white and to this day it is my favorite. Too bad we were amateurs then and only made a few cases. He probably did everything wrong as far as wine making goes and it was a huge hit, at least among our family, friends, and the judges at the Western Idaho Fair. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. Actually more often than not.
While red wine is still the breadwinner of our wine cellar (and by cellar I mean the rack on our kitchen counter), this whole winery ownership thing has forced me out of my comfort zone and into the realm of white wine. Here are a few of my favorites:
New Age with Ice and Lime
This has been around a while and most people who drink it know it’s best fixed this way.
Mouvance Pinot Gris (local winery)
They’ve sold out of the 2010 but their 2009 is exciting too. We purchased a bottle last Fall when we took my mom to the Boise urban wineries for a day of tasting. I’m sure they all loved our children crawling around on their stuff.
Whitehaven Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc
You’ll find a lot of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc since Marlborough is a region in New Zealand. I’m sure there are quite a few good ones out there. This is one we were given by a friend and really enjoyed.
Potter Wines Riesling
Oh c’mon, you knew this was coming! But shameless plug aside, we’re pretty happy with this. Neither of us are sweet wine lovers so in order for us to do a Riesling it had to be on the dry/off-dry side and taste like this. (Von says I’m sweet enough for the both of us. His sarcasm drew me to him in the first place.)
My younger self would probably call my present self a snob. Little does my younger self know what she’s in for, or that she should enjoy that social drinking while she can because someday very soon the majority of her drinking will be done inside her living room after the kids go to bed. Who am I kidding? I never wait that long.
Do you have some favorite white wines, local or other? Please comment and share what they are!
