Why does the general wine drinking public have such a fear of white wines? 

Though most would declare it a dislike rather than fear, for many, I think it is a fear of finding out they might actually like them-  And then what will people think?  

I’ve seen where a fellow diner ordered a $90 bottle of heavy Napa Cab to have with his Grouper because he didn’t drink white wines.  Not shocking, he then commented that neither the wine or the fish were very good.  This is a strong statement-  I’ll choose to ruin my dinner, and waste my money instead of getting over my misconceptions and “step into the white.”

Misconceptions:

There are so many misconceptions about white.  Some of the arguments I hear the most-

1. 1.White wines are sweet
   

2. 2.Sweet wines are bad.
   

Perhaps supermarket Blue Nun type Rieslings should take some of the blame for this.  Cloying, flabby wines, that go down easy, and come back up with a technicolor visit to the toilet, and a skull splitting headache that feels as if Col. Klink is trying to shout his way out of your head.

The sad part is that there is perhaps more great Riesling available now than almost any other varietal.  The last 5+ years in Germany have led to spectacular vintages, and have incredible, intense, but balanced wines.  Sure the non Trocken wines are sweet, but they also have mega-acids and minerals.  These are good wines to ask your merchant about, and are enjoyed best with the right foods- Spicy and salty are what works best.

3. 3. White wines are not “manly” or serious wine drinker’s wines
   

They are perceived as a drink of choice for mini-van driving mom’s to        take the edge off after of a long day of “humping the bush” all around i285.  “Shut up kids-  Momma needs her medicine!”

So if non-white wine drinkers do make the compromise, their wine needs to be masked, and so heavily oaked, that they feel like they stepped into the lumber department at Home Depot.  (Did someone say tools?) These people buy truck nuts for their ATV’s.  Along with the masking effect of oak, new oak barrels give off oak tannins.  We’ve been told to associate big, heavy, tannic wines with quality.  A white with tannins must be good!

I’m not completely on the anti-oak bandwagon- but more on the balance wagon.  Currently, oak is the enemy.  Instead of learning how to use it, we now market the complete eradication of it--  Just walk through a wine shop and look at how many labels proclaim “naked” or “no oak.”  It isn’t like the problem doesn’t exist in Red wines either, we just seem to blame it on the whites. 

Pairing:

So beyond be reluctant to whites- what we are doing and forcing is pairing flavors, textures, and weights that conflict.  The grouper and the Cabernet probably tasted like chewing aluminum foil dipped in iodine. 

What are you going to eat?  With food, wine is like a sauce.  As much as some might love it, gravy doesn’t work on everything (though bacon may be another story.)  I know very few people that eat an all beef, lamb, or wild boar diet.  With the current trends in dining, most of our “favorite” wines, don’t really fit.  As a confessed Syrah junkie, it may be one of my least consumed varietals-- I just don’t eat that much Syrah appropriate food.  Most light or semi-light dishes, Thai, Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese, seafood- and others go best with white.  Sure there are exceptions- but they are just that---exceptions (though the exceptions can be heavenly.)

In a recent article, a local sommelier wrote- the new theory of wine pairing is “drinking what you like with what you like to eat.”  Though not one for hard and fast rules, I think this is a horrible idea that goes back to the reason for the post- people are afraid of white wines, and are convinced they don’t, or won’t like them.  This approach doesn’t really do anything but make the consumer not feel embarrassed (Why do we take wine knowledge so personally?  I get told I’m a dumb-ass weekly, but I learn from it.)  There are some fairly consistent guidelines- sweet & heat, fat and tannin, acid and cream...Most diners don’t have enough experience to know what they’ll like (I don’t- I find new stuff every week.)  But go ahead, ruin your meal.  Customers can ultimately do what they want, but if they are open-  take them somewhere, they’ll appreciate it.  If they insist on asking for mayo for their grapefruit, oh well.  In defense to the article mentioned- the sommelier makes some great points and pairings.

ABC’s:

Along with the oak-a-phoebes, we have developed the ABC (Anything but Chardonnay) crew.  A crew that disses one of the noble grapes, just as if they were red drinkers, writing off white.  There are many neglected white varietals, and we should branch out (especially for value), but don’t write off a great grape.  CA Chard is the culprit here-  People are tired of the seemingly generic taste without a sense of place.  Great, high quality CA Chard now seems to cost a small fortune. Good QPR (quality price ratio- or the dirty factor) in Chard is tough to find- But like anything, it exists.  And sometimes a Chardonnay is what ultimately pairs best.

But, if you are looking to branch out into the White, these are some of the Grapes / Wines to seek out- Most heavy on the value scale.

Albarino

Muscadet

Godello

Picpoul

Gruner Veltliner

Alsace Riesling

Loire Chenin Blanc

Viognier

Roussanne

Semillion and White Bordeaux

and a gazillion others.

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So there’s probably a million compounding factors for the fear of white wine...  The influx of cheap Rieslings in the 60’s-70’s,  jugs of “Chablis” downed at fondue parties, and maybe it seemed to be the right drink to pour over ice while smokin’ a cig and listening to the Judds...

Regardless, of preconceptions- whites pair better with the foods many of us eat.   They also pair with more cheeses, many offer significant value, and most can be enjoyed younger-- Plus they offer refreshment as well as flavor.  Sign me up!  I need to be refreshed!

So- get in touch with your inner soccer-mom, crank up the Judds and let’s drink some of that white juice (which is really yellow)! 

Tip-

Ditch the Ice Bucket.  Ice cold white masks the flavors-  Cool is good, cold  is like going through a gallery with only one eye open.