The wine world is flat. That much became clear when I polled several local merchants for today’s column on great under-$15 white wines. 

Here’s where the wines cited come from: Washington (2), Oregon, California, Chile, Argentina, France and Italy (2). I actually was surprised that there were so many from the U.S. of A., but there’s little question that it’s a lot easier to find a quality white from these shores at that price point than a really cool red wine.

Frankly, the white-wine world is just a lot more interesting right now than its ruddy counterpart. All manner of fascinating varietals are popping up, especially from Italy. Vintners and growers are figuring out what can — and can’t — be done with often-dicey grapes such as viognier and chenin blanc. They’re also realizing that very different but equally delicious wines can be made in different terroirs with chardonnay and sauvignon blanc.

Whites also play well with others better than reds. Blends from Italy (Zuani Vigne), France (Augey Bordeaux Blanc) and our West Coast (Hedges CMS) are among the tastiest wines I’ve had this year. 

All of this makes my next big assignment — a roundup of what’s new in white wines for the summer  – an easy one. Or maybe not: Winnowing down a boatload of options could be a daunting job. But hey, if someone has to do it, I suppose I can gulp (not spit) and take it on.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 15th, 2008 at 7:44 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.