In recent years, white wine has appeared more and more frequently at the banquet table.
My students who work in restaurants and hotels also mention this when they communicate with me.
People, they all like freshness! When the red wine has worked hard for more than ten years, it can finally be full of joy and breathe a sigh of relief, "Our red wine occupies the whole table", I did not expect, it was also a blink of an eye, and people threw themselves into the arms of white wine.
But it is also true that who makes white wine more "flowery", can dress up more "pattern shape", dry, semi-dry, semi-sweet, sweet, all available, from floral, green fruit to citrus fruit, tropical fruit aroma, everything, let people's sense of smell and taste buds shine.
This is the unique feeling given by white wine, which is unmatched by red wine.
But the advantages of white wine can sometimes become its disadvantages. A friend said to me, "Zheng Xiaota, there are many kinds of white wines, the choice is wide, we drank at the banquet, we can't remember who is who." ”
Whoops!
In fact, we seem to have drunk a variety of white wines on the table, in fact, there are only three kinds of common ones, Chardonnay white wine, Sauvignon Blanc white wine, Riesling white wine.
Well, in this article, we'll get to know each other.
It should be said that in Chinese restaurants, Chardonnay white wine is the most common and the highest probability of drinking.
Chardonnay, is the name of a wine grape. If you see the word "Chardonnay" on the wine label, (pictured below), there's no doubt that this is a bottle of Chardonnay white wine.
Every time I take a wine taster class, I explain why Chardonnay white wines are common.
Because, among all the white wine grapes, Chardonnay has the widest planting area, it can adapt to the climate and soil of various places, it is highly malleable, and it can be "dressed up", so it is very popular with winemakers everywhere.
At the table, you raise a glass of Chardonnay white wine, shake the glass, smell it, and you are greeted by the aroma of citrus fruits and tropical fruits, like lemons, nectarines, melons, pineapples, bananas.
In addition, some Chardonnay white wines also have smells of butter, cream, or bread and biscuits, which are brought about by their special winemaking process.
Drink in the mouth, the acidity is high, slightly light, let people instantly have a great appetite. However, Chardonnay white wines are only dry, that is, the taste is not sweet, slightly monotonous.
The market price of Chardonnay white wine, the disparity between high and low is relatively large, there are thousands of yuan expensive, cheap ones are also seventy or eighty, you must also know in the meal.
At some business banquets, you may drink some expensive Chardonnay white wine, and the host will tell you that this is from the XX Grand Vineyard in Burgundy, France, and the price of a bottle is one or two thousand yuan. He's not bragging, he's actually.
However, in Zheng Xiaota's opinion, the quality of Chardonnay white wines in 100 pieces is also quite good, such as some Chardonnay produced in Chile, which is cheap and good, slightly chilled, and the aroma and taste are not inferior to high-priced wines.
Chardonnay white wine also has the characteristic of "versatile", which is good to match with any dish or local dish.
As I said earlier, Chardonnay white wine is dry and has no sweetness, so it is "not noisy", does not grab the "limelight" of the dish, and will not affect the original taste of the dish. That's where its strengths lie.
I have also talked to chefs at several famous restaurants in Hangzhou, and they agree with this.
So when you're at a banquet and want to bring white wine, but you're not sure what to eat, bring Chardonnay white wine! It was a very good choice.
Sauvignon Blanc white wine has a very high popularity in restaurants in coastal provinces and cities near the sea.
For example, in our Zhejiang, the limelight of Sauvignon Blanc far surpasses Chardonnay white wine, of course, the reason, I will talk about it later.
Sauvignon Blanc is also the name of a grape variety, usually marked "Sauvignon blanc" on the label.
But don't be fooled by its "Chinese name."
I once invited the girl of Hangzhou TV station to dinner, the girl heard and drank "Sauvignon Blanc", suddenly felt so poetic, like the wind and snow moon, I think that the glass of white wine in front of me should be "smelling the flowers and enchanting" and "smelling a thousand delicate", which knows, raise a glass to smell, a smell of grass!
ay!
The grassy flavor, but the signature aroma of Sauvignon Blanc wine!
When I talk about the taste of Sauvignon Blanc in a WSET wine class, I usually describe a scene. It's like when you walk through the garden woods after a summer shower, and the smell of herbs you smell is typical of Sauvignon Blanc.
Take a sip in your mouth, there is a pronounced acidity, the light and thin liquor flows in your mouth, leaving a burst of freshness, and the experience of Sauvignon Blanc's taste buds is like this.
Sauvignon Blanc white wine is no better than Chardonnay white wine, no high price. Usually, we drink three or four hundred yuan of Sauvignon Blanc, which is already a "sky-high price".
Loire Valley, Loire Valley, France, and New Zealand, are famous producers of Sauvignon Blanc white wines, especially from New Zealand, which are now in full swing.
When I used to work in the investment fund, I often had to study the international economy, but we have always been "dismissive" of a country like New Zealand, isn't it a wool seller!
However, since I became a wine teacher, I have looked at New Zealand differently, and then I have continued to sing well in class, "New Zealand is a good place, producing the most Sauvignon Blanc wine in the world!" ”
It's not because I'm from Ningbo and like to eat seafood, but Sauvignon Blanc white wine is the best partner to accompany seafood riverfood.
For example, steamed, white-seared seafood dishes are drunk with Sauvignon Blanc white wine, and the strong aroma of plant-based grass adds fresh and special flavor to the fish and shrimp meat, and adds a little more umami.
For example, salmon, oysters, elephant mussels, these sashimi, raw seafood, Sauvignon Blanc white wine the aroma of asparagus fresh grass, as if they are tightly wrapped, wrapped in a layer of plant flavor.
I also said in the previous article that as long as my friends invite me to eat seafood in Hangzhou, I will rush away with Sauvignon Blanc white wine, a mouthful of tender fish and fresh meat, a bite of Sauvignon Blanc, which is quite comfortable!
Therefore, in Zhejiang, why Sauvignon Blanc white wine can be as good as the sun, you also know the reason, Zhejiang is rich in seafood, Sauvignon Blanc and seafood are golden partners.
Riesling white wine, at the dinner banquet is a rising star.
I sometimes wonder if sooner or later it will have a showdown with Chardonnay white wine, win the day and half a child, and then divide the world equally.
Like Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling is also the name of the wine grape, and the wine bottle has the word "Riesling" on it.
The reason why Riesling white wine can rise and even become the most common white wine in domestic restaurants in the future is because Riesling is all-round, and it can make white wines with various tastes and tastes "from dry and semi-dry to semi-sweet and sweet".
Chardonnay white wine and Sauvignon Blanc white wine can only be made dry, that is, the taste is not sweet, relatively speaking, the taste is relatively single.
Over the years, according to my observation and analysis of Chinese wine taste preferences, (ha, my old bank used to study the performance reports of listed companies), and the conclusion was:
Most Chinese like to drink semi-dry and semi-sweet white wine, that is, somewhat sweet and sweet white wine.
So, you see, for this, Riesling white wine can all be satisfied. By the way, the famous ice wine is also made from Riesling grapes.
The characteristics of Riesling white wine, which are "from dry to sweet", make it shine and shine at the table.
For inviting guests to do the east, inviting friends to dinner, I have always attached great importance to details, because now is the era of mobile Internet, usually everyone communicates on WeChat, throughout the year, it is rare to have several face-to-face dinner gatherings offline.
Therefore, as long as I invite guests, I try to be perfect and make a good impression on my friends. In fact, even when I give my students a sommelier lesson, I want to be perfect and leave a good memory for my students.
Continue to invite guests to dinner.
I would start with dry, non-sweet Riesling white wine as an aperitif. The guests are seated, first drink a cup, the aroma of lime, green apple, with a refreshing acidity, immediately make people appetite.
When eating, the standard is red wine, but some female guests do not like the astringency of red wine, then, I prepare them semi-dry, semi-sweet Riesling white wine, a little sweet, drink more than a few glasses, will not be "greasy", female guests will be very happy.
At the end of the meal, I opened another bottle of Riesling noble curd wine or ice wine, poured it on all the guests, as an after-dinner wine, to digest the stomach, and also wished the guests, "Life is like this cup of sweet wine, sweet and sweet."
perfect！ Perfect!
Chardonnay white wine, Sauvignon Blanc white wine, Riesling white wine, these three most common white wines, I like to call them "white wine three musketeers".
In my Beginner Sommelier course, I will also combine them together to explain, and then compare and taste the three wines together, so that students can smell and taste the differences in aroma, texture and flavor between them.
It's interesting!
In class, many students smelled this cup, smelled the cup again, then tasted another cup, and then thought about it, paused for a few seconds, and suddenly realized, "Oh, it was so!" ”
Some readers may also know the names of some white wines, such as Moscato (musk) Moscato, Qiongyao pulp Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, Viognier and so on.
But in China, or even around the world, they are far less common than the three white wines described in this article.
As a friend of mine in Beijing said, "As long as you know Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Riesling, you can drink at least 70% of the white wine in the restaurant." ”
I listened to it and thought about it, as if it were the truth.