AROMATIC WHITE WINES

You pour yourself a glass of crisp white wine but before you can even get your nose in the glass for a good sniff, the aromas are already leaping out at you: peach, grapefruit, melon and honey! You have just experienced an aromatic white wine.

Aromatic wines refer to a category of white grapes that produce wines with leap-out-of-the-glass-and-smack-you-in-the-nose aromas. These wines are often light and refreshing, although their aromas can be so complex and beguiling that they demand the kind of concentration usually reserved for red Burgundies and astrophysics.

Aromatic white wines are unique because they have higher levels of an aroma compound class called terpenes (not turpentine) which include the very same aromas found in flowers! Aromatic white wines have particularly high levels of a certain subgroup of terpenes called monoterpenes. Monoterpenes are responsible for all those delicious aromas of rose, geranium, orange flower, and more. So, the next time you smell a wine and it smells like roses, it might be monoterpenes at work.

I love to sip a glass of aromatic whites on a summer day or before a great meal, but my real passion is matching these wines with my favorite dishes. I also recommend aromatic whites each year with our holiday meals as I believe they create a better food and wine experience.

Whether you enjoy sweet or dry wines, there is an aromatic white that will please your palate. I tend to lean towards the dry wines, unless I'm enjoying a dessert.

THE WINES

Albarino: 2016 Filaboa, Rias Baixas, Spain
Rías Baixas, in Galicia, is damp when there isn't rain, and when there is rain, it's just plain wet. Albariño vines thrive in this drizzly corner of northwestern Spain. And what's funny about that is, while Rías Baixas is misty and cool and all gray-green-Atlantic, Albariño itself is pretty much the spot-on embodiment of Galileo's famous saying that "wine is sunlight, held together by water." For my money, no other grape variety pulls that off so well.

Filaboa Albariño is bright and zesty and crisp. When it doesn't taste like fresh grapefruit, it tastes like fresh pineapple, always with an underlying, evocative seashell minerality.

On the nose, it is intense and elegant at the same time. The wine shows typical aromas of the estate such as pineapple, stone and citrus fruits with hints of apple and mango. On the palate, the attack is smooth, with a vibrant acidity which perfectly reflects the wine's personality. This is a fruity, fresh and very zesty Albariño wine with a personality of its own.

Arneis: 2016 Vietti, Roero, Piemonte
When one thinks of dry wines from Italy’s Piemonte, they are usually red wines. However there is a white wine that should be on everyone’s radar…Arneis. Arneis is the perfect white for transitioning from summer to autumn. Arneis is both the name of a wine and the grape from which it is made. The name means “little rascal” in Piemontese dialect, so named because it can be difficult to grow. Historically that difficulty was because the better situated vineyards were planted with the “more important” red Nebbiolo grape leaving the “lesser” sites for Arneis.

The 2016 Vietti Roero Arneis opens up on the nose immediately, offering rich scents reminiscent of apples, lime and a finishing note of walnut. It might seem like a strange combination of notes at first but it works beautifully. The wine’s pronounced acidity cuts through fatty foods like a buzzsaw and it’s a well-balanced, elegant wine with good complexity and a lingering finish.

Chenin Blanc: 2016 Leo Steen, Siani Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley
Chenin Blanc hails from the Loire Valley, a cool climate wine region in Northwest France known for being a stronghold of the natural wine movement. Although the flavor of Chenin Blanc wines varies greatly, the grape is beloved for its mouth-watering acidity, defined by an overall floral nature, with notes of honey and stonefruits. Also known as Steen in South Africa, wines made from Chenin Blanc usually exhibit floral aromas with apple and pear-like flavors and assertive acidity. Today, California grows more Chenin Blanc than France. Although most is used in blending, California Chenin Blanc producers are creating some beautiful wines. Leo Steen Chenin Blanc from Dry Creek Valley’s Siani Vineyard is an example that captures the fresh, enticing purity that can be achieved when it is grown with care and respect.

Leo Steen Chenin Blanc has alluring weight and richness, a silky texture and dazzling aromas of Anjou pear, green apple, quince, lemon verbena and white flowers. With a lovely hint of viscosity to the mouthfeel, the flavors seem to glide across the palate, offering a medley of orchard fruit, Meyer lemon and green pineapple notes, as well as hints of white tea and wet riverstone minerality that carry through to a lingering finish.

Riesling, 2016 Cobb, Kolber Vineyard, Anderson Valley
Wine professionals and connoisseurs have agreed for years that there is no other white wine grape that can produce the vibrant acidity and fresh fruit flavors complimented by luxurious texture and complex minerality that Riesling does. Riesling is an aromatic, deliciously refreshing wine that tastes like the nectar of apples, apricots, peaches and pears. Usually crisp, due to its high levels of acidity, Riesling is known for its strong floral aromas. Riesling was born in the Rhine wine region of Germany where the first reference to the wine was made in 1435.

Riesling pairs well with all food types but where it really excels is with spicy food. Your taste buds will go absolutely bonkers with the combination. Something about the spicy food and the acidic semi-sweet Riesling just works. It’s a flavor combo you have to taste to believe but trust us, spicy food and Riesling were meant for each other. So order some spicy Indian or Thai, pop a bottle of Riesling and let your taste buds run wild.

Ross Cobb, a lover and producer of fine Pinot Noir, has always thought that Riesling, like Pinot Noir, seems to channel the essence of their vineyards with a beauty and precision that can be stirring. Last year, a friend who owns the Kobler Vineyard in the cool “deep end” of the Anderson Valley, offered Ross a chance to make Riesling. He obviously jumped at the chance and the results are fantastic.

Torrontés: 2016 Bodega Norton, Salta, Argentina
Torrontés is a name rapidly becoming synonymous with the white wines of Argentina. Torrontés thrives in Argentina's famously high-altitude vineyards and particularly in the Cafayate region of Salta. This region, on the edge of the Andes, boasts some of the highest elevation vineyards in the world, reaching up to around 10,000 feet above sea level. Here, dry, desert-like conditions and a significant diurnal temperature shift help bring out the best in Torrontes.

The ancestry of the Torrontés is interesting only in that it most definitely bears more than a passing resemblance to the gloriously fragrant Muscat. The best Torrontés are highly aromatic, exuberantly floral with a rich, hothouse citrus scent as well. Dip your nose into a glass and you don’t know whether it ought to be sold as a wine or a perfume. The grape produces fresh, aromatic wines with moderate acidity, smooth texture and mouthfeel as well as distinctive peach and apricot aromas on the nose. Juicy on the palate but light in weight, this tropical-leaning white delivers zesty tangerine and orange flavors in front of a citrusy finish.

White Wine Blend: 2015 The Prisoner, Blindfold White, California
The Prisoner Wine Company works with passionate, devoted growers to source varietals from the best vineyards and appellations located across California in order to create interesting wine blends that are thought provoking and approachable.

In establishing their own spin on a white blend, they sought out interesting Rhône and aromatic varietals that nicely complement a classic Chardonnay base. They partnered with growers dedicated to cultivating alternative varietals in their outstanding vineyard sites to create an intriguing wine with bold flavor.

The Prisoner Blindfold White is a blend of Chardonnay, Roussanne, Viognier, Grenache Blanc, Marsanne and Chenin Blanc. The aromas are an inviting blend of lychee, citrus, vanilla and peach tart. On the palate, the wine is clean and refreshing with flavors of juicy citrus and butterscotch, balanced by a vibrant richness.

THE OFFER

Albarino: 2016 Filaboa, Rias Baixas, Spain - $24

Arneis: 2016 Vietti, Roero, Piemonte - $28

Chenin Blanc: 2016 Leo Steen, Siani Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley - $22

Riesling, 2016 Cobb, Kolber Vineyard, Anderson Valley - $60

Torrontés: 2016 Bodega Norton, Salta, Argentina - $20

White Wine Blend, The Prisoner, Blindfold White: 2015, California - $34

10% discount offered for any case orders

Jeff McCarthy, Wine Director
[email protected]
707.569.2906