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  Quaffers® Feature - May 2001
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A WHITER SHADE OF PALE
Classic varieties - white wine grapes
Having featured four major black grapes used in making red wine last month (check it out in the Quaffers® archive), now it's the turn of some classic whites.
Scratch the surface of many wine drinkers and you may find a preference for a glass of lightly chilled white, perhaps mistakenly viewed as less challenging or powerful than a potentially hefty red. On the other hand, those of you suffering from ABC syndrome (Anything But Chardonnay) may need encouragement to reappraise the virtues of the variety!
What is certain is that white grapes present the drinker with infinite possibilities to enjoy wines ranging in style from dry, lean Sancerre to sweetest Trockenbeerenauslese from Germany - not to forget their role as a vital constituent of sparkling wines.
Chardonnay (Beaunois in Chablis, Morillon in Austria)
What hasn't yet been written or said about this internationally popular variety? User-friendly for growers because of its adaptability, it ripens early and without difficulty in most conditions and has a great affinity with oak. Yields are good; it prefers chalky soils but can suffer from powdery mildew, and while attention must be paid to early budding in frost-prone regions, it will thrive just about anywhere - as witnessed by its planting around the globe, with the widest distribution of any grape.
Capable of producing wines across the style spectrum, Chardonnay has high sugar levels and relatively low acidity. It is in the fermenting, blending and ageing of the wine that structure and character begin to emerge. Top-class examples from Burgundy, which provides the traditional style benchmark, are usually carefully managed in small oak barrels throughout vinification to result in complex wines full of nut, butter, and spice aromas. Each winemaker has their own way of doing it, hence a "typical" bottle does not really exist. The oak can conjure vanilla aromas, and in Chablis the limestone-based soil on which the grapes grow seems to come through strongly in the wine.
Much Australian Chardonnay is obviously fruity and full of rich (some would say over-powering) flavours, sunshine in a bottle reflecting the amount of light and warmth to which it is exposed on the vine. Wines from cooler climates there and elsewhere (coastal California, New Zealand, Chile etc) pack less of a punch but are perhaps closer to the Burgundian style.
Chardonnay affected by "noble rot" (botrytis) also makes fine (though rare) sweet wines with honeyed tones. It is also crucial in Champagne, offering spine to the finished blend, with a floral or steely nose which mellows into toast after some ageing in bottle.
For a grape that until the early 1970s did not have much currency beyond Burgundy and Champagne, Chardonnay has now conquered the world with its versatility. Handled appropriately, rather than churned out for mass-market consumption, it continues to provide a wealth of surprises for the discerning drinker.
Riesling (Rhine Riesling or Johannisberg Riesling in the New World, Weisser Riesling in South Africa)
Another white grape which has plantings across the globe, Riesling is favoured for its light alcohol and fruity acidic qualities which lead to steadily evolving character and excellent ageing in bottle in the finest examples. Riesling’s robust vines can ripen too quickly in hot climates, resulting in flabby wines after the development of too high a proportion of sugar to acid. Thus it has greater potential quality in cooler regions such as northern Germany and Alsace. Here the climate demands that the grapes stay on the vines as long as possible in order to ripen effectively while retaining their natural acidity, necessary for ageing and development of the wine’s future character. Riesling performs at its best when fermented in the cool and bottled early, with no malo-lactic fermentation or exposure to wood.
Riesling is also an ideal candidate for sweet wines, particularly those made from grapes which have succumbed to "noble rot".
 This concentrates their sugar wonderfully, but leaves them looking like incinerated raisins before harvest. The unattractive grapes are transformed into golden-hued raisiny wines with spectacular ageing potential.
The evolution of Riesling as it ages can be marked by distinctive smells and flavours. While young, the balance of sugar and acid is evident in a floral and citric nose which later develops into more subtle aromas of minerals, petrol and peach. Alsace Riesling can be fuller with higher alcohol and will retain its freshness even when aged. The best examples have lively citrus fruit in the mouth and great length of finish, revealing depth and character which can reflect growing area as much as individual wine-maker's influence.
Sauvignon Blanc
Alone or in blends, Sauvignon Blanc is best known for aromatic lean-ness and crisp acidity which manifests itself in various forms depending on its provenance. It can be made successfully with or without oak ageing. In France it prevails in the upper Loire Valley as Sancerre or Pouilly-Fumé, where typical dry herbaceousness is complemented by hints of the flinty gravel on which it has grown. Conversely, in Bordeaux it is a principal ingredient in the Sauternes blend, giving freshness and acidity to its partners Semillon and Muscadelle in creating some of the world's best-known sweet wines.
Announcing itself with a sharp smell spectrum ranging from grass, gooseberry, nettles, tangy tropical fruits and cat's pee, through to asparagus in older wines, from the moment your nostrils approach the glass you would be hard-pushed to think you were drinking anything else. Slightly green fruit and refreshing acidity in the mouth reveal most of the wine's character, which in its inimitable upfront fashion, changes little with age. Sauvignon Blanc makes wine to enjoy sooner rather than later.
However it is in the New World that Sauvignon Blanc has really come into its own. New Zealand has become the mecca for lovers of this grape, with Cloudy Bay (Marlborough) wines leading the pack, as much a triumph of marketing as of wine management. Chile's Casablanca Valley shows potential, and there are many successful pockets of Sauvignon Blanc plantings around the world: but nowhere too hot, or the distinctive "under-ripe" zesty trademark disappears.
Don’t forget to taste our Wine of the Week to see if you can identify any of these characteristics in our selected bottles.
Perhaps one of your favourite white wine grapes wasn't featured?
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| Coming up next month: head south with us to find out more about the wines of Chile. |
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