Winter White Wines
We asked Jordan Mackay, our cookbook author, what he was drinking during the holidays. And as expected, he took us on a journey that challenges the notion that cold weather calls only for red wines. As November dives into December and Thanksgiving into Christmas and Hanukkah, kitchens fill with savory dishes and seafood spreads. Jordan outlines how white wines offer these feasts the perfect balance of freshness and versatility. He reminds us that wine selection should be driven by the moment - what we’re cooking, eating, and feeling - whether it’s a festive gathering or a cozy afternoon in the kitchen, there’s always room for white wine on the table.
Heading out of town to spend the long Thanksgiving weekend with friends, I loaded two crates of wine into the back of the car – a case of red and a case of white. Overkill for four adults, no doubt, but the motto of anyone charged with bringing wine is “Be prepared.” While we drank well, we didn’t go through everything. Nevertheless, I was surprised at what I came home with – seven bottles of red and only one bottle of white.
Champagne aside, holiday wine traditionally tends toward the color red. Big, savory centerpieces – standing rib roast of prime beef, leg of lamb, rack of pork, roasted duck, and goose – beg for wines of substance. Likewise, cold weather generally drives cravings for hot-blooded, gullet-warming reds.
In fact, we plowed through snow, sleet, and rain on our drive across Massachusetts. Yet, over the next several days, we drank mostly white wine, a good reminder that there is no real season for any wine – it all depends on what you’re doing and eating and how you feel. If, as we do over the holidays, you spend lots of time in the kitchen, ovens firing and burners blazing, your body may crave wines that are chilled, zesty, and refreshing. Over several afternoons, we crowded around the kitchen island, prepping dishes while snacking on cheese, dips, charcuterie, smoked salmon, and tinned fish – all perfect white wine food. And seafood courses of raw oysters (which are in peak form this time of year), seared scallops, and oyster stuffing for the turkey cried out for white wine above all else!
So, then the question is, what kinds of white wines? “All of them” is an acceptable answer, but let’s say you want to nod to frosty weather and drink to the season. Maybe you rule out the lightest white wine styles – say Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio, and that’s okay – the world gives us plenty of white wines to mirror the season’s demands.
White Wines
In winter, I gravitate to medium-bodied whites. Don’t always follow the received wisdom and rely on the classical traits of familiar wines. Wine books love to characterize Chablis as racy and light. These days, thanks to a warming climate, Chablis (especially at the village, premier, and grand crus levels) is often a rounded, mouth-filling, and potent wine with plenty of richness and extract to pair not only with raw oysters but creamy clam chowders and buttery bisques. Likewise, another French wine, Chenin Blanc, produces powerful and energetic wines of considerable body in appellations like Savennieres, Vouvray, and Montlouis. People think of Riesling as a lighter white, but that is hardly true for many of Germany’s top offerings from the Rheingau, Mosel, and Rheinhessen, and even less so in Austria and Alsace.
And what of the great fountain of white wine that is Italy? The lengthy geography of Italy issues the entire range of whites from light and sassy to rich and ponderous. Like our Thanksgiving turkey, we sliced it right down the middle stylistically, going for medium-bodied, mineral-tinged wines. We had a couple of different Verdicchios from the Marche – stony and savory with just enough weight to counterbalance my Merino wool sweater. We had some Friulian white blends, anchored by the soaring high notes of aromatic grapes like Malvasia with the gravity of Tocai Friulano and Chardonnay. Carricante, the white wine from Sicily, from Mt. Etna’s volcanic high grounds substitutes intensity for heaviness, its acidity lighting up your tongue like a garishly decorated yard. And we sipped smooth Soave, whose best versions, like a pair of warm pajamas, are so comfortable and easy that you can rep them all day.
While the year closes with the kinds of occasions that bring out the red wines, don’t forget that it’s also perfectly seasonal to sport your winter whites.