Exploring Wine Trends and White Wines to Try Now

I think anyone would be hard pressed to admit they did not follow a trend or fad at some point, especially during those formative teenage years where conformity was more often the norm than standing out. Were all of us sheep wearing the exact same outfit? No, but it was a time where dabbling in varying trends vs finding your own unique style and genuine interests was at a peak. In middle school I was mortified when I was only able to get the off-brand red sparkly vinyl Airwalks and not the real deal, feeling as though I would be found out as an unfashionable fraud, even though my shoes were basically the same as all the other Dorothy Red Ruby Slipper-esque skater shoes. Later in high school, it became more about mixing and matching styles, trying things that were similar but different—just enough to make you stand out while slightly staying within the trends of the time. I’m really glad I evolved from baseball team t-shirts with costume jewelry and JNCOs (also not real JNCOs). Tastes and fads in wine also evolve, and now that I am a full fledged curmudgeonly 30 something dorking hard on wine, I have gone from panicking and just saying my favorite wine is Cabernet Sauvignon because that was always what a grocery store had on its shelves to writing this piece about unique white wines to try.

Trends come and go, especially in fashion but also in wine. If you are at all interested in wine, you know that some of the biggest wine trends over the past few years have been Orange Wine (white wine made like red wine) and Natural Wine (wine made with as little intervention as possible). Sometimes you even come across a Natural Orange Wine! It is trending and meeting demand to have Orange Wine and Natural Wine on a tasting menu and at stores is evident in a variety of places. Shows like Netflix’s “Dead to Me” helped Orange Wine sales which were already climbing the same way “Sideways” tanked Merlot sales. I won’t say it is a documented fact that people get a lot of information about wine from shows and movies, but there is some evidence on the books that helps support the theory. Movie and television popularity can influence people to drink certain types of wine, or not drinking in the case of “Sideways”. Seriously, it really happened, NPR has a great article: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/07/05/535038513/the-sideways-effect-how-a-wine-obsessed-film-reshaped-the-industry. Based on the evidence produced by the Sideways Effect, I feel confident speculating that if a novice wine drinker is out at a bar and there are 10 wines on the menu and Orange wine is one of them, AND this person watched “Dead to Me”, it is more likely than not that they will gravitate towards an Orange Wine as a choice, even thought there is a great Godello or Fiano on the menu (more on that in a bit). I still stand by that a “Super Troopers” themed Maple Syrup called Right Meow with a picture of a cat eating pancakes on the label would’ve KILLED at breakfast tables across the US. Oh well…

Natural wine has also received a boost from celebrities and others who have decided to get in the wine branding game. However, it is being marketed as “Clean Wine” and there is a big difference between this idea of “Natural” vs “Clean”. Obviously I get a lot of wine ads from my browsing history, but I’m genuinely pretty surprised at how many companies are peddling wine that, to me, doesn’t really match up with what actual wine is. There are a barrage of new brands trying to sell you wine that will make your uterus glow and have you speaking fluent Japanese in a month. No sulfites! (okay but there are always some) And my favorite, a wine with no sugar (you know how alcohol IS made right?). Those in the health and wellness industry are now trying their hand at wine and some already established people in that arena have the start up capital and means to make sure it is in front of our faces multiple times a day promising no additives, chemicals, etc. According to businesswire.com, the health and wellness market reached a value of 3.31 billion in 2020. As social media takes control of our lives so does the need to ensure that the image we put out to the world is the best it can be. This demand, means this area of the market continues to grow and diversify, and now they are trying to health-a-fy wine. This is a market to make money in and people are taking note and trying to make anything seem healthy when it is inherently not (sorry your liver processing alcohol kinda makes those polyphenols moot). Our novice wine drinker from before is out again after seeing 6 ads for Cameron Diaz’s “clean wine” and will more than likely seek out something similar, or exactly that. I’ve seen her wine brand, Avaline, in both Fred Meyer and Target.

Other notable past wine fads and trends have been the A.B.C. movement. A.B.C. stands for, “anything but Chardonnay” which came after the Chardonnay bubble burst in the 1990s. California Chardonnay grew in popularity after the Judgement of Paris in 1976. It became the “it” drink of the 1980s in America and throughout the early 90s. With demand came an influx of the product and not always good. Growers, winemakers, and brands a like were jumping on the Chardonnay train— planting new vines, tearing up other varieties, and making it quick and cheap to meet demand. The results were mediocre to bad. The wines were very oaky and buttery. Eventually bad press regarding growing practices and quality coupled with people’s taste and trends moving to lighter white wines like Pinot Grigio, helped devolve Chardonnay’s image from swanky night club drink to the go-to drink of Lisa who lives at the end of the cul-de-sac who is kind of sad because she still comes to the PTA meetings even though her son is already at collage in in another state. No one wanted to be Lisa.

The flip side of the Chardonnay meteoric rise was that a lot of the drinkers were unaware, then became aware, of a completely different style of Chardonnay being made in France, one that was being made in a very specific way for generations. France is the Chardonnay motherland where Chablis and Burgundy have been made in a completely different style than what was happening in California during the boom times. Now we are in an age of Chardonnay in the US where there is still a lot of oaky Chardonnay coming out of California, but the focus is more on French winemaking practices, especially in Oregon, Washington and many other AVAs in California. They are making Chardonnay in the style of these French regions by either stainless steel or neural oak ( or a mix of both). This results in a more acidic, lean wine with citrus zing, lower ABV, and more pairable with food. This change in style was welcome, but what happens when even that is starting to wane?

Some of you puked from that yellow stuff in the 90s and I get it— now you wont even touch Chardonnay, or naively state you “don’t like white wine” (I promise there is one out there for you). Then there is the other side of the coin, you still drink a lot of Chardonnay, but only because it is the easy choice and very available. My conundrum is that now I’m feeling a little weary of these stainless steel Chards. Sure they are refreshing with varying degrees of complexity but when you find yourself basically calling the same flavor profile over and over (yellow apple, pear, lemon), it might be time to actively invest in your new grape obsession. In general, I want people to start seeking out new white grapes and stop blindly grabbing Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio at the store. There are quite a bit of white grapes that have the versatility like Chardonnay, but they will never be truly known until their profile gets bolstered by sales.

Godello, pronounced (GO-DAY-OH) is a white grape native to Galicia which is a region in what is referred to as “Green Spain” in the upper Northwest corner of the county. The climate is considered maritime and gets more rain than other parts of Spain, and as the name suggests, is very lush and green. Like Chardonnay, Godello’s acidity can range from medium to high and depending on ageing methods, can have a nice round texture and mouthfeel. It also benefits from some ageing and some producers age the wine on the lees giving it a more creamy texture. Godellos can run from bright expressions with high acidity with notes of grapefruit, saline, orange zest, and zippy minerality to softer more textured expressions of stone fruit flavors of peach with white flowers (think jasmine, orange blossom, honeysuckle) and candied or dried citrus.

There are 5 DOs (denominación de origin or loosely “place/denomination of origin”) in Galicia. You can find Godello in Valdeorras, Ribeiro Sacra, and Monterrei, though the Valdeorras (Valley of Gold) is where Godello is the star along with its red growing partner, Mencia. The DO will be listed on the label which might help you figure out if you have a Godello on your hands. European wines do not always list the grape varietal like they do here in the US and wines are usually labeled by growing region, not grape.

You will likely not be finding Godello at your local grocery store. As of right now, this grape is only grown in a small area of Spain, which means the price point might be higher ($18-30). There are only about 45 wineries in Valdeorras, compare that to Walla Walla’s 120 wineries, The Willamette Valley’s 700+, and you can see how a smaller production and grape rarity can drive up the price. I’d go to your neighborhood wine shop and see what they have or what they might be able to get. I assure you, it is worth it. Godello is a great wine that is delicious by itself or will go wonderfully with a menagerie of foods, this one will really impress at an intimate dinner where you will have a chance to talk about it. Head over to the wine review page for a review of recent delicious Godello I had.

Another white grape that I have seen around more than Godello and at lower price points is a grape from Campania, Italy, called FIANO. Campania is a very exciting region boasting over 100 indigenous grape varieties. However, many of them never see the light of American markets, we should feel #BLESSED that we even get a few! I won’t soil nerd out too much here but Campania is teaming with volcanic soil. Campania is where Mount Vesuvio blew, destroying Pompeii (can you believe they are STILL excavating that site? And it is STILL ACTIVE?) Some grapes really thrive in volcanic soil and also, the number one vineyard butthole, Phylloxera, does not like volcanic soil which is why so many indigenous grapes survived Europe’s Phylloxera epidemic. International grapes, like Chardonnay are basically insignificant here.

Fiano is one of Campania darling Baby Junes (please someone get this Gypsy reference) While it was almost wiped out during World War II, it was rescued after the war by a prolific Campanian producer named Antonio Mastroberardino (and I thought my last name was a nightmare). Fiano shares a lot of classic flavor notes of Chardonnay like apple and pear, but can also exhibit lovely floral notes with underlying herbal components like fresh pineapple sage. It is also a versatile grape that can undergo stainless steel fermentation/ageing, or take some oak aging resulting in more nutty notes, and riper stone fruit like apricot and tertiary notes of beeswax.

For more on the A.B.C. movement and Chardonnay in general click the “Explore the Bottle Blondes Wine Podcast” on the homepage and check out our episode all about Chardonnay. We also have episodes discussing the Sideways Effect in our “It’s Pronounced MUR-LOW” episodes. Listen and leave a nice review if you learn something new!