If you're like us, you like a white wine to have some ooomph, so Pinot Grigios tend to be too light and Sauvignon Blancs tend to be a bit too grassy even if they tip the scales a little higher than a Pinot Gri. But Chardonnays, as much as we like them, sometimes are too heavy for the weather or the food, especially spicy food such as Mexican or Thai.
Viogniers tend to have just a bit more muscle than Sauvignon Blancs but they still weigh in toward the Chard end of the scale.
We discovered a crisp alternative to Sauvignon Blancs in a white wine from Argentina made from Torrontes grapes. The wine we found was the 2009 Simonassi Andes MountainTorrontes. It's Argentina's response to a French Muscat. Crisp. Not oaky. Full of flowers and grapefruit (you know that fresh, acidic, crisp taste in the morning).
This cut right through our Salsa Casserole and some leftover Thai, both meals that need a wine that's not full but can cut through hot food. It would also work with Indian dishes. And, it goes without saying, that it would go great with salads and chicken and pasta dishes.
This Simonassi Torrontes, which was rated 89 by a Spanish language wine rater, retails for $10 — remarkably — but we found it for $7.80. What a bargain.
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If you're like us, you like a white wine to have some ooomph, so Pinot Grigios tend to be too light and Sauvignon Blancs tend to be a bit too grassy even if they tip the scales a little higher than a Pinot Gri. chardonnay wine
ReplyDeleteWe are very much of the same opinion. While a lot of people are Pinot Gri fans, we also find them a bit short on the kind of character we like in a wine. Some Sauvignon Blancs meet the test but, as you say, some are grassy, a flavor that we try to avoid in our wines. The Sauvignon Blancs from the Loire Valley of France are typically very good, especially with seafood (the Loire is close to the Atlantic Ocean). They tend to be crisp, with a lot of character, but still just a bit lighter than most Chardonnays.
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