white wine

Are you acquainted with Grüner Veltliner? This mineral-rich Austrian white is still somewhat under the radar in America, but I'd like to change that, sofort. Grüners tend to share many qualities with Riesling, another popular Austrian grape, and are exceptionally food-friendly thanks to pronounced acidity and a peppery finish. So to say that I eagerly awaited uncorking (or rather, twisting the top off of) the 2010 Domäne Wachau Federspiel Terrassen Gruner Veltliner ($16) is an understatement.

A few notes on the rather unwieldy name: Domäne Wachau is located in Wachau, a wine-growing region whose steep and rocky terraced land is ideal for the cultivation of Grüner Veltliner grapes. Federspiel denotes the must weight, or sugar percentage of the grapes upon harvest, and indicates a wine with low to moderate alcohol (11 to 12.5 percent) and a dry to off-dry finish. Lastly, Terrassen simply indicates that the grapes were grown on terraced land, which generally produces wines with subtle minerality, thanks to the rocky soil.

Luckily, the anticipation was well-warranted. I loved this Gruner's perfume of crisp Fall fruit and grass, as well as its minerality; the slight effervescence made the wine remarkably sippable. I wasn't the only taster coming back for seconds: one taster even proclaimed the vintage to be her "favorite thing ever." The verdict? A resounding win with great value.

I don't like to play favorites, but I can't help but gush over today's bottle, the 2011 Eroica Riesling ($22), a superlative vintage from Washington state. Begat out of a partnership between two prominent Riesling producers (Dr. Loosen of Germany and Chateau Ste. Michelle of Washington state), this Washington-bred white marries the best qualities of the pair, resulting in a complex and eminently drinkable wine. Its intensely crisp and fruity perfume (think citrus and white peach) is well balanced by lingering minerality and moderate acidity on the tongue. While this bottle isn't cheap per se, it's an excellent value, and a bottle that I'd happily pay more than its moderate price tag for.

Truth be told, I could easily down a bottle of this wine solo (though I wouldn't recommend that), but I would wager that it would come to life when paired with spicy-sour-sweet Thai food or briny shellfish. I'll be sipping on mine while supping on fruits de la mer — specifically moules à la marinière.

White-wine drinkers: ever heard of Torrontés? If you've never tried this varietal, you will soon. Torrontés — a South American varietal being hailed as the "new Pinot Grigio" — has experienced more than 50 percent growth each year for the past several years. It's known for being floral and fruit-forward yet dry, and the 2011 Doña Paula Torrontés ($15) is a good example of that.

"Tastes like flowers," one sipper said, and the comment was right on the nose (no pun intended). We came up with a laundry list of descriptors for the bouquet, as there were so many: apricots, fuzzy peaches, lime; honeysuckle, jasmine, rose; toasted hazelnut. The dry white's full-bodied mouthfeel almost had me thinking I was drinking a Pinot Gris, only this had a long, bracingly crisp finish that made it more refreshing than its counterpart.

Next time you find yourself on the hunt for a Pinot Grigio, go out on a limb and try a Torrontés instead; pair it with nutty crackers and a rich, semihard cheese, and you'll be more than picnic-ready. Have you ever tried this varietal?

There's arguably no better drinking wine for this weather than Vinho Verde, the sprightly Portuguese white that's young in both age and spirit, and recently, I tried one of the best renditions of this wine that I've ever tasted. This bottle, the 2011 Adega Cooperativa de Ponte de Lima Vinho Verde Adamado ($10), was gone in mere minutes. Vinho Verde translates to "green wine," and this wine literally tasted like green fruits, with notes of tart green apple on the nose. As promised (adamado means "sweet-tasting" in Portuguese), the wine showcased an off-dry, kiwi-flavored finish.

Vinho Verde often has a little bit of prickliness to it; because the wines are young, Portuguese winemakers pump carbon dioxide in the bottles to keep them fresh. This was no exception: it was effervescent in a thirst-quenching, Sprite-can-opening kind of way. It didn't go straight to the head, though, like its bubbly brethren are wont to do. I enjoyed it solo, but dreamt of sipping it on the hottest of days, outdoors at a late-Summer music festival like Lollapalooza. Now if I could just nab a ticket . . .

We're suckers for a clever wine label and are occasionally swayed to try a new bottle purely based on its aesthetic appeal. Luckily, in this case, the packaging belies the contents within. The Pomelo 2010 Sauvignon Blanc ($10) manages to achieve the rare feat of tasting just as advertised. Crisply acidic, with notes of — you guessed it! — pomelo (a close relative to the grapefruit) and pineapple, tasters agreed that it was "très drinkable" (almost dangerously so) and would be "fun for an outdoor adventure" thanks to its twist-off top.

We'll be cooling off with a bottle or two of this reasonably priced supermarket favorite (we found ours at Safeway) all Summer, and we suggest you follow suit. We enjoy sipping it solo, but its clean flavors make it versatile. We wager it'd play nicely with the delicate flavors of the sea (flaky sole or steamed mussels, anyone?), particularly when accented with zesty citrus.

In addition to obsessing over anything grilled, we've spent the majority of this Summer seriously saluting the kernel. You know what we've discovered? Sure, corn tastes great when topped with crema and cotija cheese, but it tastes even better when paired with the perfect white wine.

One of these wines is Wyndham Estate's Bin 222 Chardonnay. Like a charred cob with a knob of sweet cream, this white is buttery, caramelly, and sweet on the side of the palate; it finishes warm, with hints of hazelnut and cardamom.

I'll be the first to say I'm not a fan of oaked Chardonnays, but this rendition was admittedly pretty easy to drink. Others quickly concurred: "I'm not a fan of the varietal — particularly oaked Chardonnays — but this is actually nice," one taster said. "It's a nice blend of dry and sweet flavors. I really love this," another added. And just about everyone was shocked to learn of the wine's $10 price tag: we were easily willing to pay $20 for a bottle of this!

We're dreaming of enjoying it again very soon on a relaxed night at home, when we're looking for a wine to make the meal but that won't break the bank. Oh — and with some of our grilled corn on the cob, of course.

Photos: Anna Monette Roberts

Every so often, a wine article is so compelling that the reader simply must seek out a particular bottle, however obscure it may be. This recently happened while reading a piece by wine editor Ray Isle on a small but growing community of DIY winemakers who are challenging the traditional standards of wine production in America. I looked up from the pages of my Food & Wine magazine and vowed to run out and buy his recommendation, the 2008 Tatomer Vandenberg Riesling.

Isle described the bottle as "one of the best Rieslings I'd had all year" — a bold statement for someone who tries a lot of wine. Nonetheless, that wasn't the real reason why I was sold on sampling the Tatomer. My real motivation? The wine, a California Central Coast Riesling, was the epitome of unusual. The Golden State isn't known for Riesling, especially not the warmer, sunnier Central Coast appellation. To top it off, this wine is named after the nearby Vandenberg Air Force Base — an unlikely inspiration for a wine if I've ever heard one.

By day, Graham Tatomer makes chardonnay and pinot noir as an assistant winemaker at a local winery, but he's a Riesling fiend at night — one who was fanatical enough to start making his own version. He makes only 700 cases of wine a year, and his wines, like this $24 Riesling, are incredibly priced. (To put that production number in perspective, E & J Gallo Winery makes 70 million cases annually.)

It's easy to taste the care put into each bottle. The Vandenberg is made in the style of an Alsatian: full-bodied without any sweetness. Its floral, pear-like bouquet drew me in, but what kept me drinking was the flinty minerality that bordered on savory and a creamy texture with a bracing green apple finish.

There's hardly a white wine more drinkable for Summer than Sauvignon Blanc; its zippy, crisp qualities highlight Summer foods exceptionally. One fine example of that is Gary Farrell Winery's 2010 Sonoma bottling ($25), a sprightly, single-vineyard wine from Redwood Ranch, a vineyard on the southern side of Sonoma's Alexander Valley.

If you're a Sauvignon Blanc fan, it's hard to imagine this rendition of the varietal wouldn't please. Put it to your nose, and you'll get notes of pear, bell pepper, and New Zealand-esque guava. It's creamy midpalate yet has a crisp, palate-tickling finish that triggers your salivary glands and makes your mouth water for more. We'd pair this zippy white with fried seafood, like a crisped, pan-fried sand dab.

Do you have a Sauvignon Blanc of the moment?

"The Sauvignon Blanc grape owes a lot to New Zealand," wine writer Eric Asimov once wrote. He's right: New Zealand winegrowers have a talent for balancing fruitiness and bracing acidity in every glass, leaving behind a crisp finish that often contrasts the heavy oakiness of that other white grape, Chardonnay. Plus, its producers often favor the screw cap, something that belies a greater philosophy about wine that I couldn't agree more with: it should be enjoyed anytime, anywhere, for any occasion.

I asked wine buyer Carlo Wismer of San Francisco's The Jug Shop to talk shop about one of the New World's most popular white wines. He offered his thoughts on what makes New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc so popular; see them when you keep reading.