Want Your White Wine to Have More Flavor? Don't Serve it So Cold!

Some people really like don’t care for white wine. They say it just doesn’t have as much flavor as red wines.

But, maybe, your experience with white wines has all been with very cold white wines. If you are drinking white wine right out of a standard refrigerator (which is typically 35-40 degrees F) you’re serving it too cold. Heavily chilling wines does cause them to have less flavor.

But, a lightly chilled white wine (50-55° F range) will allow you to experience the wine as it was intended by the winemaker.

A rule-of-thumb that I’ve always used for white wine is that if you are using a standard refrigerator to chill your wine, you should take the bottle of white wine out approximately 30 minutes before you want to serve it. That should leave a light chill on it. Or, if you own a wine refrigerator, you probably already know that it should be set to approximately 50 to 55 degrees F for white wines.

While serving a white wine at a warmer temperature does help to bring out more flavor, remember, the serving temperature of your wine a matter of personal preference. Whatever your preference, enjoy!

Behind the Cork™ - Winter White Wines (Part 1)

Standard convention says that during the colder days of winter, a hearty red wine is the one to pick. And, while that’s not wrong, there are also white wines that are well-suited for winter drinking.

Winter white wines are not the bright, fruity and refreshing ones that you may normally think of, such as Sauvignon Blanc, but rather whites that are a bit bigger and more powerful in flavor such that they pair well with heartier winter dishes.

And, these winter whites don’t need to be extra chilled in a standard refrigerator. Winter whites should be served in the 50-55° F range.

Here are a couple of nice examples:

2021 Domäne Wachau Riesling ($18.99)

This Domäne Wachau Federspiel Terrassen Riesling is from the Wachau Valley on the Danube River in Austria where Riesling is famous. It comes from sustainable and increasingly organic principles. It is hand-picked, pressed and then fermented on lees in stainless steel tanks to preserve the fruit flavors. It is medium straw in color with delicate aromas of lime and green apple. On the palate, this dry Riesling (1.2 g/L residual sugar) has flavors of peach, apricot and bee’s wax.

2020 Beronia Rueda ($13.99)

Rueda is a wine region located on the Duero river in Spain just northwest of the Spanish capital, Madrid. And, it is known for its white wines made predominantly from the Verdejo grape variety. This 100% Verdejo wine is fermented in both stainless steel (which preserves the complexity and intensity of the aroma) and concrete tanks (which promotes contact with the lees and helps to a full-bodied wine). This Beronia Rueda is pale yellow in color with green hints. On the nose it exhibits rich fruit flavors and fennel which is typical of the Verdejo grape. On the palate, this dry wine (<2 g/L residual sugar) has the flavor of grapefruit pith which leads to a slight touch of bitterness on the finish which is also typical of the Verdejo grape.

Both of these wines are fine examples of white wines that can be enjoyed with winter meals and, again, can be served in the 50-55° F range. Cheers!

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Disclosure of Wine Sample Submission: I received these samples at no cost for review. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Samples Provided by Gonzalez Byass via Donna White Communications

Ever Wonder? What is a Winter White Wine?

Winter

White Wines

Yes! You Can Drink White Wine in the Winter

Standard convention says that during the colder days of winter, a hearty red wine is the one to pick. And, while that’s not wrong, there are also white wines that are well-suited for winter drinking.

Winter white wines are not the bright, fruity and refreshing ones that you may normally think of, such as Sauvignon Blanc, but rather whites that are a bit bigger and more powerful in flavor such that they pair well with heartier winter dishes.

And, these winter whites don’t need to be extra chilled in a standard refrigerator. Winter whites should be served in the 50-55° F range.

Here are just a few examples of winter whites that you may consider:

• Chardonnay (lightly oaked)

• Chenin Blanc

• Riesling (off-dry & sweet)

• Verdejo

• Viognier

Looks for reviews of winter white wines in upcoming Behind the Cork™ Wine of the Week reviews. Cheers!

Behind the Cork™ - Alto de la Bellena Reserva

2018 Alto de la Bellena Reserva ($24)

Nine miles away from the Atlantic Ocean, Alto de la Ballena is a small winery producing high-end wines from over 20 acres of vineyards in Uruguay. Starting vine plantations on a slope of Sierra de la Ballena (“Whale Hills”) in 2001, the estate opened new trends in wine growing by combining maritime climate, hills and rocky soils.

This Alto de la Bellena is a blend of 85% Tannat and 15% Viognier. Yes, it’s a blend of red wine and white wine. It is common to use Viognier as a blending wine to enhance the color, add floral aromas, and provide a silkier mouthfeel. The Viognier was fermented separately in barrels and its skins were co-fermented with the Tannat. The finished wines were then blended and aged for nine months in American oak.

This wine is deep ruby in color with aromas of plum and black cherry. On the palate, this full-bodied wine has jammy flavors of black fruit, medium-high tannin and acidity and a bit of tartness on the finish.

This Alto de la Bellena red blend is yet another great example of the fine wines being produced in Uruguay and a great fit as this week’s Behind the Cork™ Wine of the Week. Cheers!

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Disclosure of Wine Sample Submission: I received this sample at no cost for review. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Sample Provided by Alto de la Bellena Winery via Creative Palate Communications

Fun Fact - How to Reset Your Sense of Smell When Wine Tasting

While our tongue is only able to detect five basic tastes (sweet, sour, salty, bitter and savory), our nose is capable of detecting millions of different aromas. And that’s how we enjoy all the wonderful “flavors” that food and drinks have to offer.

When wine tasting, one of the Five S’s is smell.  You place the wine glass directly under your nose and inhale deeply. This can allow you to get a very quick idea of what the wine will taste like and you may even detect some of the wine’s fruit and herbal aromas. But after just a couple of sniffs, your nose tends to become less sensitive to further sniffs of the same aromas.

One way wineries and wine tasting rooms will address this issue is to re-set your olfactory system by having you smell a small container of coffee beans.  This shifts the receptors in your nose and brain to something completely different. That way, when you sniff your next wine, your sense of smell is reset and once again heightened.

But you may not always have coffee beans with you when you are tasting wines. The one thing that you always have with you is your arm. And it can come in very handy when wanting to reset your nose. Just take a quick sniff of your bare arm, right in the crease of your elbow (preferably while not wearing any scented lotions, sunscreen or other scented products). This quickly resets your nose and allows you to get back to smelling the intricate wine aromas.

So, try this quick trick next time you are wine tasting to experience all the wonderful aromas that wines have to offer. Cheers!