White Wine
At lunch, as an aperitif, with a starter, or just a cool glass on the terrace. White wine is irresistible. Refreshing, fruity, lively, and cheerful, that’s a glass of white wine. How do they do it?
How is white wine made?
White wine is usually made from white grapes. Makes sense, right? However, you can also make white wine from blue grapes. The color in blue grapes is in the skin, not in the flesh. When you gently press a blue grape and immediately remove the skins, you’re left with pale juice. This type of wine is called Blanc de Noir, white wine made from dark grapes. But this is rare, and most white wine is made from white grapes.
Vinification of White Wine
After removing the stems from the clusters, the grapes are crushed to release the juice. They are not pressed yet. The skins are soaked in their own juice to extract more aromas from the skins. This process lasts between 3 to 24 hours, and it is crucial that the temperature does not rise above 4°C. If the temperature does rise, fermentation can begin spontaneously and uncontrollably. The juice, also known as must, can be cooled with large coils running around the stainless steel vat. Cold water is pumped through these coils. Soaking the skins gives the wine a lot of aroma, but this method is not applied to every white wine.
Clarification
The must that comes from the press is always a bit cloudy, while the goal is to produce the clearest white wine possible, as consumers are used to that. This is why winemakers apply a process called clarification. Before fermentation, the must is left to settle in the vat for 12 to 24 hours, allowing the solid particles to sink to the bottom of the vat. By draining the must into another vat, the solids can be separated. During this step, it’s important to prevent spontaneous fermentation, which can be achieved by cooling the must and adding a small amount of sulfur (sulfite). The must can now be pressed.
Fermentation
This is when fermentation can begin. This often happens by adding cultivated yeast cells. This allows for much better control of the fermentation, and the cultivated yeasts can also add certain desired aromas. For making prestigious wines, fermentation in oak barrels (barriques) is often chosen. Once fermentation is complete, the dead yeast cells settle to the bottom of the vat. This layer is called the lees. If the wine is not pumped into another vat but is allowed to age longer on the lees, it makes the wine fuller and softer in taste. This method is used to make, for example, the great white wines of Burgundy. The more common white wines ferment in stainless steel or concrete vats. After aging, the wine is once again transferred to a clean vat to remove the final sediment. The wine is then ready to be bottled.
Dry
People often talk about dry wine, but wine is still liquid, right? Dry is simply a term that means not sweet. When someone orders a dry wine, they might be asking for a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, for example. Very aromatic, with lots of tropical fruit, bold and expressive, but not sweet.
Glasses
White wine is often served in smaller glasses than red wine because red wine is generally more complex in flavor. However, white wine tends to be more aromatic in scent, and the aroma is best released by swirling the wine in the glass. For this, a wider glass is needed. I serve both white and red wine in the same wide glasses. Although the box they come in is meant for red wine, white wine works wonderfully in them as well.
Storage
Most white wines are not made to be aged for a long time. White wines thrive on their fresh fruitiness, which diminishes over the years. When most white wines are released to the market, they are meant to be enjoyed immediately. Don’t store the bottle for more than two to three years; after that, the freshness is gone. An exception to this are the fine white wines from the French Graves and Burgundy regions. Once opened, a bottle of white wine, like red wine, can be stored for two to three more days.
Calories/Carbohydrates
A modest glass of dry white wine (100ml) contains 67 kilocalories. This is slightly lower than rosé (71) and red wine (82). The same glass of dry white wine contains 1 gram of carbohydrates. So, having a glass of wine while on a diet (of course, in moderation) should be just fine.
White Wine and Cheese Fondue
Cheese fondue, how incredibly delicious! But it can be very filling, especially when paired with red wine. Both the dish and the wine then become heavy. Try a good, slightly fatty white wine like Chardonnay with your cheese fondue. The whole meal will stay much fresher with white wine, and the “full feeling” won’t set in as quickly. For making cheese fondue, it’s best to choose a simple white wine with light acidity. This helps the cheese melt better. A Pinot Blanc, for example, is very suitable.
Even with a cheese platter, white wine often works better than red, for the same reason: the white wine makes the entire combination with the cheese lighter, fresher, and easier to digest.
