by Dave McIntyre
“Wine is fascinating for a number of reasons, not least for its sheer variety. We can drink a different wine each day and not repeat a bottle for a pandemic or maybe even longer. Still, we are creatures of routine and it’s easy to fall into a rut. There’s nothing wrong with having favorites, of course. But if vinous wanderlust strikes and you’d like to explore wine’s diversity, here are some ideas for white wines (we’ll continue this topic with red wine next week).
And if champagne is your favored bubbly, branch out with a crémant de Bourgogne from Burgundy, usually made from chardonnay and pinot noir but at a fraction of the price of their more prestigious neighbor to the north. From Italy, Franciacorta and Trentodoc are sparkling wines made in the same way as champagne and achieve impressive quality. And the New World makes great fizz, too. Some of my favorites from California include Domaine Carneros, Schramsberg, Roederer Estate and Iron Horse. And I’ll never say no to a glass of Argyle from Oregon, Hermann J. Wiemer from the Finger Lakes, or Virginia’s Thibaut-Janisson.”