FB's Wine Corner, ep 3: The Wonderful White Wines of France

While the Red and Sparkling wines get so much attention in France, and rightfully so, France also makes some of the best White Wines on Earth, and these are the wines I personally probably drink the most of.

Today we will focus on a variety of white wines, and how you can recognize the wine by region and varietal, and what you should expect from each. A primer of sorts for exploring white wine in France.

The most famous white wines are probably the ones from the Loire Valley: Sancerre, Pouilly Fume, and Touraine.

These 3 appellations are very close to each other, with Sancerre and PF being across the river from each other, and all have the same thing in common: They are all going to be Sauvignon Blanc.

Sancerre: THE Sauvignon Blanc wine, what most considered to be the most famous and the most classic expression of the grape. These wines are bone dry, light bodied, they are citric in nature with grass notes. Sancerre wines are brighter than its neighbors. These wines are WILDLY popular, can be found on virtually every good restaurant wine list in the world, and are higher priced than their neighbors on average. This is my wife’s favorite wine.

Pouilly Fume: (Pooh-ey Foo-may) Similar to its neighbor, but these wines can be softer and sometimes have a more peppery or smokey element to them. Are more mineral driven or “flinty”

Touraine wines are very similar to Sancerre but a bit rounder, softer if that makes sense, and offer good value. You can get them for less than Sancerre on average, often a lot less.

Bourdeaux also makes SB, famously so. They tend to use Oak much more than Loire valley does. So expect some oak when drinking them.

Chenin Blanc

Vouvray: These wines are Chenin Blanc based, perhaps the most underrated white wine grape in the world. I love chenin blanc! They are typically dry and light bodied (Vouvray and France in general DOES Make Sweet Chenin Blanc wines, as well as Sparkling ones, so know what you are getting). They are typically much softer than Sancerre, and you’ll get notes of lemon and citrus in general.