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Tina and Brett
The nightmare gets a little worse when the kind staff in the wine department ask you if you need help, which causes you to freeze because, honestly, you have no idea what you’re actually looking for or which wines would be a good choice for someone who is just starting to learn about wine.
The good news is help is here! Because many wine drinkers begin their wine journey with white wine, we’ve pulled together a list of the top six white wines that will appeal to new wine drinkers.
These wines were selected not just for their easy-drinking qualities but because you should be able to purchase a good quality bottle for a reasonable price and do so at most places that sell wine.
Chardonnay is the most planted wine grape in California, and for good reason: it’s easy drinking, and people love it. What’s great about Chardonnay is that it comes in a ton of different styles, and all of them will appeal to new wine drinkers. Depending on where the grape is grown, how it is aged, and if it is oaked or unoaked, Chardonnay can be rich, creamy, and buttery or mineral-driven, steely, and lemony.
The above-average acidity, soft textures, and medium body of Chardonnay make this a food-friendly wine, but also one you can casually sip with friends – hopefully friends that share your new love of wine!
Vermentino is a take-anywhere, enjoy-anywhere kind of wine. This white wine is just as at home with a salad on a summer day as it is paired with extravagant seafood dishes on a prix-fixe menu. Notes on Vermentino usually mention grapefruit, light jasmine, and crisp apple. Some interpretations also have an herb and saline quality.
In addition to the hundreds of iterations of this quaffable white wine, California has also emerged as a hotbed for Vermentino cultivation. Wineries in Sonoma, Napa, Paso Robles, and the Sierra Foothills produce interesting and affordable Vermentino wines.
Sauvignon Blanc’s bright citrus fruit, acidity, and slight tartness make it one easy to drink white wine.
These refreshing white wines also sometimes have a grassy quality to them. For a new wine drinker, the idea of drinking something ‘grassy’ may conjure images of wheatgrass shots or your favorite green veggie juice, but don’t let that descriptor turn you off to trying a Sauvignon Blanc. They are, hands down the best gateway wines you can sip.
One more quick tip about Sauvignon Blanc. When you’re shopping for your first bottles, you may see bottles labeled ‘Sancerre.’ Sancerre is a Sauvignon Blanc wine that comes from France’s Sancerre region. Only Sauvignon Blancs from this region can carry the Sancerre name, just like true Champagne can only come from the Champagne region of France.
Riesling comes in two distinct styles: dry Riesling and sweet Riesling. This white grape, grown primarily in Austria and Germany, doesn’t always have the best reputation because there is a lot of mass-produced sweet Riesling on the market, and much of it should be avoided.
What you want is a good dry Riesling. These wines have notes of lime, lemon, stone fruit, and a fresh herbiness that is hard to resist. Dry Rieslings are incredibly approachable for someone newer to wine.
Albarino wines are excellent entry-level wines for a few reasons. This Spanish grape gets its appeal from its low price point – an excellent bottle will cost somewhere between $15-$25 – and it’s one of those wines that invites continuous sipping. Albarino’s are wines you don’t have to think about. They are light-bodied, crisp, acidic, and minerally and have a vibrant palate filled with notes of lime and subtle herbs.
Look for Albarinos from the Rías Baixas region of Spain, Portugal, California (Monterey County, Santa Barbara, Napa), and, increasingly, countries like Uruguay.
Chenin Blanc has been pleasing wine lovers for a long – actually, a very long time. In fact, there are French documents that mention this Loire Valley grape as far back as 845!
Like our Austrian friend, Riesling, Chenin Blanc shows up in a variety of styles. This wine can be dry or sweet; it can appear as a sparkling wine or as a dessert wine. We recommend you try a lighter, acid-driven interpretation of Chenin Blanc first. These wines have ripe peach, apple, white melon, and pear, but also a sturdy streak of minerality which provides great balance. Chenins make great warm-weather wine.
