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With winter in its full bloom, jackets out and fireplaces have been put in motion; the next thing that comes to our mind is a nice glass of full body red wine and some cheese or rich food to go along. With all of this, what we forget about is our beautiful white wines which we all sip while sitting on a beach front in our sandals or on the top of our yachts. Once the summer is over, the sandals are in and yachts are in their yards, we don’t necessarily have to say goodbye to white wine. YES! Believe it or not, white wine has its place in winter dining.

There are a few points one should keep in mind when picking your winter white wine. The first trick is to think about the style and texture of the white. In the winter time, we all tend to gravitate towards the higher alcohol percentage, more opulent, warming styles of red wine with invigorating tannins and richer in body. However what we fail to notice is that there are white wines that have a similar richness and warmth to them.  What one needs to look for is a white wine with a buttery characteristic , stony minerality, honey, herbs, even spice that add the heat to the wine.

Then comes the way we serve up the white wine.  The serving temperature of the wine is absolutely important to gain full flavour of the wine and enjoy your glass. What Mr. Plane* suggests is to keep the wine out at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before serving it and definitely decanting the wine.  You’ll find the wine to become more complex, have delicious aromas and the wine will taste richer, more textural, more satisfying to the palate.

Some grape varietals that go well for the winter time are; Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc that naturally have a creamy/buttery texture and high acidity. Furthermore, aging white wine in oak absorbs warm flavours, giving us a bigger and rounder spicy white wine.

Now that you have all this information, you are ready to pick you winter white wine. A white wine, we believe that is the most appropriate for winter, is a big oaky Chardonnay. A chardonnay tends to bring in that rounded feels to the palate which is highly welcoming in winter. The structure of the wine and the high acidity cuts through the rich and heavier winter food, making the whole experience of food pairing highly enjoyable.  The St Maur Chardonnay has very similar characteristics of oak maturing, high acidity and a fruity flavour adding a beautiful warm texture to the wine.

Don’t underestimate the power of winter whites!

*(Mr. Banjo Harris Plane is a former Attica manager and now wine entrepreneur at Wine gallery)
Source: The Guardian; palatexposure.com; bordermail.com.au; Daily Mail; The Age