When summer heats up, we’re ready for refreshing chilled white wines. Fortunately, Dry Creek Valley is home to more than 30 grape varieties and offers many different white wine choices for your every mood. Here’s a guide to some of what we’re enjoying this season.
Chardonnay
The chardonnay grape can make wines that are lean with zippy acidity, briny minerality, and flavors of apple and citrus–or it can make wines that are a little bolder, with ripe tropical fruit flavors often complemented by the vanilla and coconut flavors imparted from aging in new oak. You’ll find some of each style in Dry Creek Valley. These wines can pair with white fish, shellfish, buttered vegetables, and even chicken or pork.
Try them: For a leaner style, try Martorana Dry Creek Valley Chardonnay. For a richer offering, try Sbragia Dry Creek Valley Home Ranch Chardonnay.
With its bright citrus flavors and tones of fresh savory herbs, this wine is a quintessential summer quencher. Great with everything from oysters to green salads to lighter Mexican food, this abounds in Dry Creek Valley and on picnic tables everywhere.
Try them: More than 20 wineries offer sauvignon blanc wines in Dry Creek Valley. Right now we are enjoying Peterson Winery Timber Crest Farms Sauvignon Blanc and Rued Winery Dry Creek Sauvignon Blanc.
Vermentino
If you enjoy the crispness and herbal notes of sauvginon blanc, you might just fall in love with vermentino. Classically grown in northern Italy, southern France and Corsica, vermentino succeeds in Dry Creek Valley’s Mediterranean climate and well-draining soils. This is another great choice for fresh seafood or grilled veggies.
Try it: Unti Vermentino
Viognier
This full-bodied wine is filled with bold floral aromas, spice and stone fruit. Thirty years ago, viognier was barely known in California, but today winemakers appreciate it for its distinctive rich flavors. Dry Creek Valley’s notable diurnal temperature variation allows for the grape to build elegant acidity while developing character. This is a great wine to pair with exotic aromatic seasoning spices, nuts, soft cheeses, and poultry.
Try them: Vineyard of Pasterick Viognier, Trattore Estate Viognier
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