Out of your comfort zone

Did you know there are other good white wines – other than Chardonnay & Sauvignon? I like to challenge my wine class members taking them out of their white wine comfort zone, and down the rabbit hole of geeky white wines. Chardonnay and Sauvignon account for most of the white wine sales in the United States. It’s time to expand your horizon.

Time to ditch the 2 mainstays in everyone’s cellar and try something new!

Most are familiar with Barolo and Barbaresco, but the main dry white from Piedmont, Italy is Arneis. Grown on the northern hillsides in the area, Arneis is a great everyday drinker. Arneis shows citrus zest along with peach and apricot, with a nice mineral backbone and mouthwatering acidity. Bruno Giacosa is a benchmark producer in the area, and the Arneis is a great vehicle to taste his magic.

Bruno Giacosa Roero Arneis

Bruno Giacosa Roero Arneis

Is a mineral-driven and beautifully fresh white wine that would taste great on a warm summer evening. The wine sports a luminous golden color that seems slightly more intense in this vintage. The bouquet offers citrus, peach, dried sage and crushed oyster shell. In the mouth, the wine is tangy and crisp. Pick it up for about $35.00

Gruner Veltliner

Gruner Veltliner has set up its home in Austria.

Austria has come a long way since the wine scandal in 1985. They now have some of the most restrictive wine production laws in the world. Gruner Veltliner shows peach and apricot on the front end and is very spicy on the palate with white pepper, candied ginger and lots of white flowers.

Rudy Pichler is a great producer in the Wachau region of Austria.

His family as been making wine in this area since the 1880s and truly shows what Gruner Veltliner is all about. Freshly cut pear, some peardrop candy and a wonderfully zippy lemon freshness combine on a light, slender body into a very refreshing, even exciting palate that also has very slight echoes of yellow miso and fresh lovage. Pick it up for around $30 at your favorite retailer.

Wine bottle images courtesy totalwine.com
Adam Arlen, Sommelier

Adam Arlen: “I am passionate about wine because it is history in a bottle.” Originally from Allentown, PA, he believes you should always branch out and find new things. His goal is to never stop learning and continuing to grow both personally and professionally. A fun fact about him: “I was a nuclear engineer on a submarine in a previous life.”

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