Winemaker Notes
Lush and off-dry, with a crisp finish. A blend that begs to be paired with spicy foods.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Production keeps rising while the price stays the same and the quality is as good as ever. A blend of eight different white wine grapes, this wine is fragrant in citrus flesh and rind tones. Spunky is the word that best characterizes the crisp, fresh mix of tree and citrus fruits, notably peaches and lemons. It’s a lovely mix, polished and ready for a wide variety of vegetarian and light seafood dishes. Best Buy.
With hundreds of white grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended white wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used in white wine blends, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a variety that creates a soft and full-bodied white wine blend, like Chardonnay, would do well combined with one that is more fragrant and naturally high in acidity. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.
From Alabama to Wyoming, each of the fifty United States produces wine—with varying degrees of success. Many of the colder northeastern states focus primarily on American or French-American hybrid varieties like Concord and Vidal, while Muscadine is the grape species of the warm, humid southeast. In Alaska, grapes are grown indoors in greenhouses; other states specialize in fruit wines, like the pineapple wine of Hawaii. New York and Virginia have thriving wine industries, and New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Michigan, Idaho, and Ohio are all worth keeping an eye on.