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White wine discovery 101

Tuesday, June 05, 2012

Cool, crisp and a perfect companion on a hot summer day. White wine is a delectable accompaniment to light salads and seafood dishes. Find the perfect blend for your palate, with our guide to three popular varieties available from Australian wine producers.

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is one of the most commercially produced varieties of white wine, popular for its flexibility. Commonly, the Chardonnay wine blend is dry and oaky, with citrus undertones, a high acidity level and golden colour. The height of fashion in the 80s, it's failed to shake off this outdated reputation. But fabulous blends being produced in places like South Australia, means that Chardonnay could make a comeback. Try Lizard Flat Chardonnay from South Australia, which has delicious tropical flavours blended with melon and peach.

Pinot Grigio

An Italian variety, from the same family as French Pinot Gris. This popular white wine is named after the grey – or gris – coloured grapes from which it is produced. In Italy, it's light-bodied, with a crisp, acidic flavour. Oregon-based labels are fruitier to taste and pinker in tone. Australia produces some excellent Pinot Grigio wine like Cockatoo Ridge 2010, which has apple and pear blends to make it work perfectly as an aperitif.

Sauvignon Blanc

Easy to drink, this crisp white wine blend's popularity has spread like wild fire in recent years. With roots in Bordeaux, the grapes are now grown all over the world, perhaps most famously in the Marlborough region of New Zealand where the soils produce tropical flavours that pair beautifully with light meals and cheese plates. But on home ground, delicious guava and gooseberry fusions come through in Western Australia's Smithbrook Sauvignon Banc, available for purchase now.

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