During the halcyon days of sun-soaked spring and summer, wines like zesty Sancerre or easy-drinking Pinot Grigio feel as effortless and familiar as the “girl [or boy] next door,” says Eun Hee Kwon, sommelier at Saga in Manhattan.
But as the air chills, veering into raw and rude, winter begs for something altogether more comforting. Red wine may seem the obvious choice, but consider embracing white wine’s moodier alter ego. Think brooding, nostalgic wines with an unwillingness to fade away quietly—bottles with gravitas, texture, and complexity. Enter the heady, untamed sensuality of Condrieu, or the dreamy marzipan and melted-candle textures of Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc.
These wines operate on the opposite flavor spectrum as their zippy counterparts. Frost-bitten nights call for savory wines rich with salinity and nuttiness, languid whites that envelop and persist. These wines deliver a kiss of caramelized char and torrefaction, or march to the staccato brace of tannins and time.
Save your palate-cleansing sips of Champagne or Chablis for raw oysters. Surrender instead to wines that tango with oysters gratinéed with butter and garlic. Till warmer days return, let these wintry whites guide you to the comforts of the winter hearth: a burnt edge of lamb, singed with sage and ash; the lactic sweetness of melted cheese; or the earthiness of roasted root vegetables.
Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese, $80
Mosel Rieslings deliver a masterful interplay of acidity, sweetness, and savoriness. The subtle honeyed note of an Auslese, or late-harvest Riesling, can lend contrast to even the most robust and full-flavored of winter fare, fatty meats like pork chops, or Asian soups rich with umami and soy sauce, Kwon says.
Muga Rioja Blanco, $19
White Rioja is where power meets poise. Typically a blend of Viura, Garnacha Blanca, and Malvasía grapes, Muga’s full-bodied Rioja Blanco is an affordably priced benchmark, perfumed sweetly with notes of chamomile, hazelnuts, and herbs but also the spice and smoke of French oak.
Joseph Dorbon Vin Jaune, $105
Vin Jaune is the signature dry white of the Jura region of France made from the Savagnin grape. Long maturation sous voile, or under a veil of yeast, gives Vin Jaune a salty, earthen complexity, bold spice, and texture that’s satiny, even unctuous—perfect for rich soups and stews.
Sergio Zenato Lugana Riserva, $47
Trebbiano di Lugana, known also as Turbiana, is a rare Italian grape native to Lugana on the southern shores of Lake Garda. When barrel-fermented and aged at least two years, it becomes a riserva, a grande dame of a wine, luscious with frangipane and hints of baked apple and ginger. A profound, weighty white, it would meld gorgeously with dishes like braised rabbit or a turbot in a béarnaise sauce.
Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc, $70
Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the southern Rhône is better known for its reds, but the white wines, typically blends of Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, and Clairette, are deeply historic too. Sun-drenched and laden with wax and spice, the wine’s fruit and floral tones shift over time to savory expressions of earth, leather, and mushroom.
COS Pithos Bianco, $35
Pithos refers to the clay amphora used to ferment and age this supple, spicy, orange-style wine. Made from white Grecanico grapes macerated with their skins, its orange-peel and chamomile flavors are rimmed with delicate tannins. A benchmark of Sicilian natural winemaking.
Yves Cuilleron La Petite Côte Condrieu, $62
Condrieu, in the northern Rhône, is the ancestral home of the Viognier grape. Flamboyant, undulating, and sensual, Condrieu is heady with blossoms and apricots ripe to the point
of bruising. Viscous, even oily in texture, but with an earthy sauvage and an amaretto grip of tannins.
A.A. Badenhorst Secateurs Swartland Chenin Blanc, $20
Sourced from old vines (predominantly over 35 years old) and fermented with indigenous yeast, this is a concentrated wine with presence and persistence. A fantastic introduction to South African white wines.
Grenache Blanc
An ample, full-bodied white that along with Roussanne personifies the power and lusciousness of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and other Rhône white blends, but also the Spanish white Rioja.
Marsanne
The broad-shouldered, golden icon of Hermitage in the northern Rhône. Produces a profoundly aromatic wine that gains a honeyed glaze and smoky, coffee-bean torrefaction with age.
Viognier
Beyond the northern Rhône, this luscious perfumed white thrives in Australia, Virginia, and California. Louisa Rose, head of sustainability at Yalumba, the pioneering Australian winery, describes Viognier as “a white wine for red wine lovers.”
Savagnin
The dominant white grape of the Jura that, beyond Vin Jaune,is often blended into Chardonnay and bottled as L’Étoile or Côtes du Jura. Characteristically smoky, nutty wines with baked apple and pear flavors dusted with notes of salt and white pepper.
Riesling
While best recognized for its racier, linear expressions, riper, semisweet Auslese or full-bodied dry styles can highlight Riesling’s more complex, textural, and savory forms. Iconic to Germany, but look to Austria, France, the US, and Australia too.
Chenin Blanc
In dry, fuller-bodied forms, Chenin takes on a structure that’s rich and rugged—think Savennières and Chinon in the Loire Valley. Fleshy and ruffled with charred herbs, they’re complex wines that coat the palate with a rippling, waxy haze.
Pinot Gris
Pinot Grigio’s spicier, more commanding sibling. It’s the same grape but with more intense fruit, bolder tannins, and a lush texture.
Structure
Intensity of flavor, richness of body, acidity, and tannins are all building blocks that lend structure to wine. Wines with more structure feel more present or persistent on the palate.
Minerality
From glimmers of crushed salt to notes of clay and gravel, minerality takes wine beyond the immediacy of fresh fruit and flowers, grounding it in a complexity that can taste savory to saline.
Texture
A wine’s texture can range from coarse with tannins (think weighty velvet or the roughness of a cat’s tongue) to as smooth and rich as olive oil. Texture amplifies the presence, weight, and substance of wine.
Maturation
Time in barrel or bottle adds dimension, texture, and flavor complexity to wine, making it richer, rounder, and more harmoniously integrated. Oak barrels especially lend characteristic spice, smoke, and nuttiness.
Sweetness
Residual sugar tends to get a bad rap, in part due to cloying mass-produced bottles. But don’t dismiss sweetness outright. Handled with finesse, sweetness in wine isn’t sugary, but rather a perception of fruitiness, richness, or texture.