B&G Blog

Some tips to choose the perfect white wine for you

White wine: taste and colors are not always the same

Great wine depends not only on objective standards, but also on individual taste. Even if it is important to consider a few elements before choosing a wine like the vineyard it’s from, it’s also essential not to forget that your preferences will first define the best white wine to taste. Thus, we can consider that a good bottle of wine is first and foremost a bottle that will seduce your taste buds and make you live a unique gustatory experience. In this perspective, be open and don’t be afraid to try several varieties of wine until you find the bottle that suits you best.

A beginner’s guide to choosing a good white wine

When choosing a good wine, your preferences come first. But there are also a few determining characteristics that will help you find the bottle of your dreams.
Among these criteria, we find:

• The sweetness and acidity of your wine, that can be defined by several adjectives:
  • Dry: this term is used to describe a wine that is not sweet.
  • Creamy: this refers to a wine that is not acidic and has a very smooth texture.
  • Crisp: a crisp wine is a wine that is slightly acidic and fresh in the mouth.
  • Oaky: This is a wine that has been matured in wood barrels and has a clear and distinct vanilla-like flavor.
  • Round: This applies to wines with a smooth texture.
• Body: the body of the wine defines whether it’s light or heavy in the mouth. A wine can be lightly bodied, fully bodied or somewhere in between. Usually, white wines from hot regions have a fuller body than white wines from cooler regions.
• Tannin: this is a natural component of the grape skin and seeds. The more tannins the wine contains - whether it’s inherently present in the vinification process or introduced during the aging process - the more astringent its taste will be, and the better it will age. Tannic wines tend to develop complex tertiary aromas over time, which is why they have a special place in the hearts of oenophiles.

On which occasions would you like to enjoy your white wine?

Would you like to drink a nice white wine for an aperitif or for a meal? Alone or with some friends?
These questions will directly affect the choice of your wine. If you want to enjoy your white wine without any side dish, you will not choose the same one as for a meal. In the exact same way that you will not choose the same type of wine to accompany a salty dish as you would for a dessert.
So this is where the criteria listed above enter the picture. Therefore, if you want to pair your dessert with a bottle of wine, you will choose a sweet white wine, while a dry wine might be more adequate to match your salad or your fish.

Choosing the best white wine: our safe picks

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is a must in white wines. As the most popular variety of white wine, it offers a wide range of flavors through its different appellations. At Barton & Guestier, we suggest a selection of the best bottles of Chardonnay:

• Appellation Mâcon-Villages Contrôlée: this Burgundy wine with fruity and floral aromas will leave an elegant and fresh flavor on your tastebuds with hints of peach, pear and acacia.
• Appellation Chablis: ideal to enjoy with fish, this wine from the Yonne department is known to be crisp and refreshing due to the region’s cool climate. Chablis shows high acidity and flavors of apple, lemon and wet stones.
• Appellation Pouilly-Fuissé Contrôlée: Its notes of jasmine and peach will seduce your palate and take it to the land of flavors.
• Chardonnay, Pays d’OC PGI: This classic of our catalog is known for its golden yellow color and its fruity and vanilla aromas that will make the most demanding gourmets fall in love.

Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc is one of the best French grape varieties for white wine. Its natural acidity has made it a great and must-have wine. We have selected some of our best bottles of Sauvignon Blanc for you:

• Appellation Sancerre Contrôlée: best enjoyed on hot summer days, its rich acacia and exotic fruit fragrances and its touch of citrus leave a pleasant sensation of freshness in the mouth.
• Appellation Bordeaux Blanc Contrôlée: its tropical flavors of mango, passion fruit and pineapple are a real delight for wine lovers.
• Sauvignon Blanc, Côtes de Gascogne PGI: One of the most refreshing wines. Its intense aroma combining pink grapefruit and pineapple will provide a unique experience to your taste buds.

Chenin Blanc

As the most versatile white grape variety in the wine world, Chenin is also a great pick for white wine. Go for a bottle of Vouvray if you want to appreciate floral and fruity notes with a good smoked fish or Asian dishes.

Sparkling Chardonnay

Make your tastebuds fizz with a bottle of sparkling Chardonnay! Intense and fragrant, Barton & Guestier sparkling Chardonnay will be the perfect drink to share with friends. Fine, elegant, fruity and acidulous, this festive never fails to satisfy wine enthusiast’s savvy palates.