Quick Guide to White Wine

An Introduction to White Wine

White wine is a hugely popular type of wine that’s delicious on its own, ideal for pairing with food, and a great ingredient in cooking for adding flavour, softening meat and creating sauces. If you’ve ever cooked a risotto, you’ll know all about the wonderful ability of wine to make a difference.

Just like red wine, there are hundreds of varieties of white wine produced all over the world. Although the majority of them are dry, you’ll often find sweeter varieties of white wine, which is achieved when the winemaker interrupts the process of sugar being turned into alcohol during the fermentation process. Refined at lower temperatures to preserve freshness, white wine is not only light in appearance, but usually refreshing on the palate, too.

There are many varieties of white grapes that produce different wine styles depending on where and how they are grown. A French Chardonnay (Chablis), for example, will taste different from a Chardonnay grown in Australia. Regardless of where it is produced, though, a bottle of white wine will generally contain around 300 grapes, with one standard glass of wine containing around 75 grapes.

A lot of aspects affect the way a wine tastes, like vintage, growing conditions, winemaker techniques, and the winery itself. So, if you’ve decided you don’t like Chardonnay after a bad experience, it’s always worth trying one from a different area or country, as chances are, the taste will be vastly different.

There are far too many white grapes to cover in this quick white wine guide, but our grape varieties section gives a lot more information about the different white grape varieties out there.

Quick White Wine Facts

• There are approximately 82 calories in a 100ml glass of dry white wine
• It takes up to 75 grapes to create one standard glass of white wine
• It takes up to 300 grapes to create a whole bottle of white wine
• There are 15 litres in the largest bottle of white wine you can buy, called a Nebuchadnezzar
• The most popular types of white wine are Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling

Styles of White Wine

There are a few different styles of white wine, which vary greatly depending on the grape variety used, how the grapes were treated throughout the winemaking process, and whether the grapes were grown in a warm or cool climate wine region.

From cooler climate regions, you’re likely to get much lighter white wines – both in appearance and style. A thin-skinned, fragrant grape grown in England, such as Bacchus, will be almost completely clear in appearance with only a hint of a lemon-green colour. The nose and palate will be just as dainty, offering perfumed aromas, a crisp mouthfeel and flavours of citrus and green fruit.

From warm or hot climate regions, white wines will be much bolder in flavour, body and appearance. A New World Chardonnay or Chenin Blanc can be much more yellow, or even golden, in colour, and offer a full, rich mouthfeel with notes of honey and tropical fruit.

Of course, some white wines are aged, which can add a whole other layer of new flavours and characteristics. For a quick overview of what the colours of white wine signify, check out our useful diagram below.

How is White Wine Made?

White wine can be produced in a number of very different styles. This can be dependent on factors such as the climate, vintage, the winemaker, the winery and the country of origin. An interesting fact that many don’t realise, is that black grapes can produce white wine, you just need to ensure that the wine is fermented without the grape skins.

The first thing you need for wine, of course, is grapes. Once you’ve decided on the variety to grow and allowed them to reach optimum ripeness, it’s time to harvest the grapes. This can either be done quickly using machinery, or slowly by hand if only the best fruit is to be picked. Next you’ll need to crush the grapes to remove the skins, leaving just the juicy pulp. This is essential for white wine as it ensures no colour is transferred from the skins into the wine. The grape juice is then left to settle before fermentation and any unwanted sediment is removed.

During fermentation the sugar is turned into alcohol. To create a sweeter white wine, the fermentation process can be interrupted before all of the sugar has been converted to alcohol (see How is Sweet Wine Made for more info). To add oak nuances to the wine, it can be aged in oak barrels for a period of time before bottling, however most white wines go straight from fermentation to bottling.

For a more in-depth look at the winemaking process than what we cover in this white wine guide, take a look at our article How is White Wine Made.

Did You Know?

• Most Sauvignon Blanc is best consumed while young and fruity
• White wine is best at 7-13°C. If it’s a fuller white wine though, 13-15°C degrees is better
• White wine is fermented at lower temperatures than red to preserve freshness