Minisode #13: Help! I Don’t Know How to Love White Wine! (Use the B-FAST method to learn to love White Wine)

Show Notes

Minisode #13: Help! I Don’t Know How to Love White Wine!

Hi everyone, and welcome to this special mini-episode of The Wine Pair Podcast! I’m Joe, your sommelier of reasonably priced wine, and this is my wife and my wine pairing partner in crime Carmela. And we are The Wine Pair.

If you are new to The Wine Pair Podcast, these minisodes are just shorter versions of the regular podcast that we put on weeks where we might be traveling or handling other life stuff, and instead of tasting and reviewing two to three wines under $20 that are easy to find, which is what we usually do in our longer episodes, in the minisodes, we focus more on things like wine etiquette, wine education, and wine tips. And, we try to make it fun and understandable to regular, everyday people like us! And our podcast is recommended by Decanter magazine. Which is pretty fun.

Well, Carmela, we are back with another minisode, and this time for a very specific reason - or couple of reasons. First, you are sick, so we are trying to go easy on you. For whatever reason you got sick during the last part of our New York / Barcelona trip. And the second reason is that we are going to Portland Oregon this weekend to see my brother and his husband and our son and his girlfriend and some cousins of mine that I haven’t seen for a while, and so I don’t have enough time to edit down a full episode. So, we are doing a mini-episode instead.

We would love to hear if you like these minisodes, so please drop us a line or send us an email at joe@thewinepairpodcast.com and let us know what you think so we can keep creating content you like. And if you have an idea for us for an episode, let us know.

Ok, so today we are going to talk about learning to love white wine. For some people, like you, Carmela, that is an easy thing to do. But for others, like me, it took me a while to like white wine and even longer to really start to appreciate it. I still find when we go out to dinner or visit friends and family that there is usually someone who says I just don’t really like white wines - or that they always prefer to drink red. And don’t even get me started on rosé, but that is for another minisode!

Why do you think it is that people prefer red to white?

I think there are many reasons for that, and here are just a few: 1) wines are treated as more serious wines, 2)  they are generally more expensive wines, 3) they are often longer aged wines, and 4) I think white wines and red wines have somehow been gendered, where white wines are considered more feminine and often preferred by women and red wines considered more masculine and often preferred by men. Weird, but true and we have some articles in our show notes that go into some detail there. 

So, if you or a loved one have been trying to build up some love for white wine, or you need to convince someone that white wines are just as serious and complex and delicious as red wines, we are here to help. And, to love something, you have to understand it, and so it helps to think about white wine in a couple of dimensions that we will discuss using an acronym I just made up called B-FAST. That’s B - dash - FAST where B stands for Body, F stands for Food, A stands for Acid, S stands for Sweetness, and T stands for Temperature which we will talk about both in terms of the temperature of the wine and the temperature of the seasons. And I am trademarking that shit right now. B-FAST, Trademarked by The Wine Pair Podcast. Don’t try and steal it!

Body - Let’s start with Body. White wines are generally considered  lighter bodied than red wines, which sometimes makes people think of them as less serious, but that is a mistake. White wines come in all body styles, from light to full. The kicker here is that many of the white wines that are most popular, like Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, and Albarino do tend to be light to medium bodied. But there are plenty of white wines that are more full bodied like oak Chardonnays, Viognier, Semillon, and Marsanne – Roussanne blends. In the middle are wines like Riesling, Chenin Blanc, and unoaked Chardonnays. The rule of thumb is that higher alcohol wines tend to have more body to them - in the 13% or more range is full bodied, less than 12.5% is lighter bodied.

Food - We always say that wine is meant to be paired with food, which is one of the main reasons we think people tend to not take whites as seriously because for one, people in America tend to not drink wine with food but rather cocktail it which then puts a premium on a very richly flavored wine. And, people in America eat a lot of red meat, and white wine is not a great pairing with red meat. That’s just facts. But white wine is a great pairing with tons of different foods. Of course there is the stereotype of white wine and seafood, which is true, but many white wines are much better pairings with things like spicy foods - both hot spicy and highly spiced spice, Asian foods, and fried foods than red wines are. Want to pair a wine with fried chicken or Thai food? Choose white wine any day over red! If you don’t believe us, do your own taste test. You will win a doubter over with that!

Acid - Related to food is acidity, and white wines often have a more acidity, citrusy, crisper and fresher flavor than reds. One reason why is that red wines are more often oaked, and adding oak to wine replaces some of the freshness of a wine with the wood, vanilla, and smoke of a barrel. Most white wines are fermented in stainless steel, which is not porous, and so unlike wood barrels, very little oxygen gets into the wine which helps with the acidity.  White wine grapes are often also from cooler temperature areas which means they get less ripe than those from warmer climates, and less ripe grapes means higher acid where riper grapes means more sugar. If you don’t like acidic wines, which by the way acidic wines are better with food, then look for white wines from warmer climates like California and Australia. Just remember, warmer climate and oak means less acid.

Sweetness - White wines are often considered sweeter than red wines, but that often has to do with the way they are made, and, in fact, many white wines, especially the ones we like, are very dry. Sweetness has to do with sugar content, of course, so just know that lower alcohol wines tend to be sweeter. High acidity helps to balance sweetness, too, which is good to know. But I think one of the reasons why people associate white wine with sweetness has to do a bit with the fresh and fruity flavor profile, which also comes from using stainless steel in the winemaking process, but also because many people are first introduced to wine via sweet white wines like Moscato and sweet sparkling wines. If you like sweet wines, look for Moscato, late harvest and lower alcohol Riesling and Gewurztraminer, and lower alcohol Chenin Blancs. Just don’t confuse fresh, acidic wines with sweet wines. If you want less sweet wines, look for wines in the 12% alcohol or more range.

Temperature - The last part of B-FAST is Temperature. Yes, white wines tend to be served cold, and that helps to bring out their acidity. But overall, white wines are probably usually served too cold which tamps down on the flavors and so if you want to really get the full flavors out of a white wine, serve it slightly chilled but not fridge cold, and you’ll find a lot of complexity and flavor. Also, lighter bodied white wines do tend to be better on hot days. This is true. But, fuller bodied white wines can be great choices for fall and winter meals.

So overall, think about the food, the season, and the temperature when you want to start exploring white wines more, and we think that you’ll find your way to loving them! Like I did. In fact, there are many times where I just prefer a white wine over a red wine because I find them more food friendly and more refreshing. 

Just remember, the key to loving white wines is  B-FAST: Body, Food, Acid, Season, and Temperature. If you can keep those things in mind, we think you can learn to live white wine, or convince a friend or loved one to join the party. 

If you want to see the sources for our content today and get the links to learn more, come to our website, look for this minisode, and open up the show notes. 

Articles and Links

• https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-wine-economics/article/can-a-wine-be-feminine-gendered-wine-descriptors-and-quality-price-and-aging-potential/881E1681DC9EA393B28D8B836166A299 
• https://punchdrink.com/articles/end-gendering-feminine-masculine-wine-language/ 
• https://www.winespectator.com/articles/i-love-reds-but-hate-white-wines-53411
• https://ingoodtaste.com/blogs/wine-101/white-wine 
• https://www.vivino.com/wine-news/why-is-acid-so-important-in-wine 
• https://www.foodandwine.com/wine/what-is-acid-in-wine 
• https://winefolly.com/tips/wine-sweetness-chart/ 

You can also check out our regular sized episodes if you liked this one. You can also follow us on Instagram at thewinepairpodcast or you can visit our website thewinepairpodcast.com and in any of those places you can reach out to us directly, and you can send us an email at joe@thewinepairpodcast.com. And, on our website you can also sign up for our fun newsletter!

Follow us, subscribe, and give us a nice rating and review as a free way to support us, and we’ll see you soon. Remember, life is short, so stop drinking shitty wine