Whites-Case | $18 | Total Wine | Wow. Just wow. Julie B is going to fuss at me for stealing her favorite white, but this is awesome. Perfect Seafood wine. Francophiles will argue that real Viognier can only come from France, that it grows best in Rhone valley in rows between huge rock (usually granite) outcroppings. Well this Australian version gets its name from the fossils found in the dead coral in the soil which makes it a perfect white for seafood. If you’re headed to Catonsville Gourmet and need to take a bottle of white, this is the one. Don’t know that I’ve ever had Marsanne grape anywhere else, but if it is the Marsanne that takes the sometimes too sweet Viognier edge off this wine, count me a fan.
Graff Riesling 2010
Whites-Case | $10 | Mail Order Only ? | Riesling is an amazing grape. It has at least as much character as any other white. The problem for many folks is it’s too sweet. Problem solved! This is a dryer Riesling that offers a lot of value for the price ($9.99 per bottle). A crowd pleaser for sure!
Macon-Villages Bouchard Aine & Fils Chardonnay
Whites-Glass | $13 | Total Wine | Great French chardonnay (unoaked – this is not California). Fermented in stainless steel hint of citrus and grown in Maconnais region of Burgundy (far south of Chablis), but still enough oyster shell and minerals in the soil to taste in the wine and pair with seafood. Go get some raw oysters and drink-up.
Laurence and Philippe Greiner Alsace Riesling
Whites-Case | $18 | Iron Bridge | Fantastic Riesling – yes, Riesling. Normally I think all Rieslings are sickly sweet dessert wines and I can’t stand trying to pronounce all the extra letters in the various types of Rieslings (and keep the differences straight), but just know that this one is a keeper. From Alsace (“Alsatian”) minerals, crisp, little lemon, little salt, and lots of acid to fight off the sweet – this should be your featured summer white.