Types of White Wine
All white wines start out as white grapes. The different types of white grapes give the wines different flavors. Other factors in the taste of a particular white wine are the climate the grapes are grown in, the location they are grown in, the moisture level and the condition of the soil as well as what the wine maker does the grapes after they have been harvested. White wine grapes are grown in Germany, Austria, France, and Italy in Europe, Oregon, New York and Washington, in the United States, and New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Chile.
One type of white wine is Chardonnay, which is known as the queen of white wine grapes. Chardonnay produces more complex wines than any other in the world. Fruit, vanilla, oak, nuts, spice and butter are flavors commonly found in Chardonnay. Being a very delicate wine, Chardonnay can be easily overpowered by the addition of any other ingredient. If it has been fermented too long, it is common for oak to overpower the Chardonnay.
Chardonnay vines are very vulnerable and tend to mutate. Researchers have identified 400 different varieties of clones, each with their own tendencies regarding characteristics such as acid retention, crop load, size of the cluster and berry, and length of ripening. The variances in these characteristics produce different flavors of white wine. Chardonnay requires a lengthy growing season for its grapes. These grapes grow better in cool locations than in warm ones. Chardonnay vines always produce large crops. If a Chardonnay vine is over cropped, the wine will have a very bland taste to it. Chardonnay is harder to make than other wines because the berries used are small and fragile with very thin skin. Harvesting and bottling Chardonnay grapes is harder than harvesting and bottling other types of grapes. Some of the most common flavors and scents of Chardonnay wines are apple, lemon, pineapple, pear, banana, lime, peach, orange, mango, apricot, tangerine, kiwi, guava, hawthorn and acacia.
Chenin Blanc is another type of white wine and has been cultivated in France for thousands of years. The best-selling wines of the 1970′s, Chenin Blanc is grown in California, where it is the third most popular white wine grape. Chenin Blanc grapes are often used in cheap table wines and jug wines. In general, Chenin Blanc has a light, fruity flavor to it, and is more acidic than most white wines. Of all the varieties of wine grapes, Chenin Blanc is the most versatile, which makes it hard to tell wine drinkers the style of the wine or the level of sweetness in the wine. A warm climate is the best place to grow Chenin Blanc vines in. This is because they tend to ripen later than other types of vines. Chenin Blanc grapes are prone to suffer from sunburn and bunch rot. When a Chenin Blanc vine is between three and four years old, the vines often over produce grapes. When this happens, the grape crops often become too large to ripen completely if they are in a cool environment.
Riesling is another type of white wine, which has been cultivated in Germany since the 1400′s. The vines can grow in cold weather and are usually grown in the coldest climates a grape can be grown in. Too much rain or humidity can lead to the Riesling taking longer to ripen than other types of grapes. If the vines are exposed to a particularly dry period of time after being exposed to water for as little as one day, Riesling grapes can rot. When this happens, the grapes shrivel up and a lot of the juice evaporates. Riesling grapes often are apple or floral scented. Some of the most common flavors and scents of Riesling are rose petal, pear, peach, apricot and violet.
There are many more types of white wine, but these types are generally the most popular among wine drinkers.