There is nothing more fulfilling and soothing than a glass of supreme white wine. Your wine drinking mainly depends on your personal tastes and preferences. Nevertheless, we shall discuss some of the finest white wines and their features.

For starters, they are not necessarily white in color. Mostly, they are a mixture of many varieties of wines. The most favored label in White Wine is undoubtedly the Chardonnay. All regular wine drinkers in the world can vouch for the popularity of Chardonnay.

Some salient features of Chardonnay wine

- This wine is widely grown and can be cultivated anywhere.
- The oak flavor of this wine is a great favorite with wine drinkers all over the globe.
- This wine can be made by mixing a wide range of fruits and aromatic flavors.
- Chardonnay has an age old vintage touch to them.

Pinot Grigio :

- Another favorite is the Pinot Grigio.
- This wine has a typical tropical fruity taste, like pear and melon.
- It has a yellowish color with some hint of gold. Pinot Grigio complements all seafood fares and pastas.
- Due to its acidic nature, drinkers can do better by avoiding citric fruits and tomatoes in general.

Traditional English and Western meals are never complete without a chilled glass of white wine. Wine making has come a long way from being a modest beverage to being accepted as a sophisticated drink by today’s generation. There are many Types of White Wines, in a range of combination of colors. White wine is a fundamental part of many European cuisines, they have less alcoholic content, approximately 10 to 14 percent. Some of the popular labels are Chenin Blanc, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay.

White wines are made from whitish and dark purplish grapes and is produced by removing the grape skin from the juice. Unlike red wines, they can be had in a chilled form. Sometimes, dark grapes give a slight bluish color to the wine. Younger wines need to be oxidized to improve their flavor.

White wines are good for human health. The fermented wine varieties are rich in antioxidants and chemicals, which reduce the risk of blood pressure, heart ailments and various forms of cancer. They are mainly defined by the body, color and taste, be it pure white, or yellowish golden, sweet or dry wine,
but these wines are very popular all over the world.

Many wine experts and related websites usually are more in favor of red wines, while ignoring white wines. But, all that is slowly changing. Germany, France, Italy, Australia and America are all producers of top quality white wines. Rieslings Company in Germany produces tasty wondrous wines that are already famous all over the globe. Reputable labels from France include Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon.

You can scour the Internet for the best wine websites to find A-class wines, to know their history, regions of production, food pairings and so on.

But, don’t forget to enjoy and complete your cuisine with wondrous white wine.

Ian Love is the owner of Online Wine Specialist, West Valley Wine and also runs a great Australian Wine Club.

The term white wine is widely accepted everywhere and nobody really questions it, however if you think about it, white whine is never really white. You can find it in many colors and shades, but never truly white. From yellow to golden to almost white pretty much all that has no red or pink in it is named White Wine.

So how does white wine become pale color devoid of any red in the first place? There are two main ways to obtain it. First by not using red grapes. This is the most common way that average people know to answer if you ask them. There are lots of grapes that are not red, such as greenish, or golden yellow, or greenish yellow or light pink yellow. All these will yield you this white beverage.

However there is another way to obtain it by using red grapes. It does sound surprising at first, but red grapes, or better said the juice of red grapes (without any skin) is used to create what is nowadays called white wine. Basically the the red pigmentation in the grapes is only in the skin, but not in the actual flesh, so any juice of red grapes can successfully yield this white beverage. One of the most common types made of red grapes is champagne.

Here are some additional types of white, or aperitif wines that are commonly used:

• Fresh and unoaked wines – these are light and very crisp and dry. You can find several Italian ones such as the Soave and Pinot Grigio in this category
• Earthy wines – they are also dry but full bodied with an earthy flavor to them. French ones are usually known for their earthiness in taste
• Aromatic wines – these have strong aromas and flavors such as the well known Riesling from Germany
• Oaky whites – these are also dry or semi-dry with a full-bodied taste. A common region for them is Burgundy in France.

For best enjoyment this beautiful pale drink should be served in a crystal decanter, such as the Riedel crystal decanter.

Gewurztraminer is the most usual Alsatian wine. Gewûrz means “spicy” in German. It is the key trait of the Gewurztraminer. Traminer means “coming from Tramin”. The wine is tasty, fruity and with strapping aromas, a very aromatic and flowery bouquet. Gewurztraminer is sweeter than Riesling, which is a dry wine. Thick and rich wine, which can age, Gewurztraminer is better with sauerkraut, sausages and the Alsatian cheese Munster, curry seasoned dishes, Chinese and Mexican cooking and other spiced dishes. A Gewurztraminer can even be served as a dessert wine.

Gewürztraminer’s straight and apparent charm has made it a popular varietal in almost every spot of the wine world. Excellent examples of ‘New World’ Gewürztraminer have surfaced from British Columbia, Oregon, and Washington State and in New Zealand, as well as from cooler microclimates in California and Australia. In Europe, individual and remarkable wines are Gewürztraminer based wines are produced in Austria, Germany, and northern Italy. The best Gewürztraminer vines are found along the slopes of the Vosgnes Mountains, in France’s Alsace region. Gewürztraminer bottled as a single varietal creates wines with extremely compound perfumed qualities and high natural alcohol. One of Alsace’s ‘noble’ varietals, along with Pinot Gris, Riesling and Muscat, Gewürztraminer at its best is in a class of its own. Wines are often full of exotic fruit such as lychee and rose petals. They also have a full, rich ‘oily’ mouth feel, with dry, acid appearance. If ‘Gewürz’ is grown in warmer climates, there is inclination to be sticky and lose varietal character, and in very cold climates the wines tend to be oddly neutral to grapefruit like.

Gewürztraminer is predominantly fussy about soil and climate. The vine is hearty, even boisterous, but it hates chalky soils and is very vulnerable to disease. It buds early, so is very prone to frost, needs dry and warm summers, and ripens randomly and late. Its natural sweetness means that in hot climates it becomes blowsy, with not enough acidity to stabilize the vast quantities of sugar. Nonetheless, picking early to hold on to the acidity means that the varietal fragrances don’t develop, and these aromas may be further watered down by over cropping in an effort to surmount the low yields.

Lindsay Alston is a contributing editor for Classic Wines, specializing in Gerwurztraminer wines.