ask a sommelier I have a few friends who drink white wine, and when I ask what they want to drink, I hear a lot of “I’ll have anything but Chardonnay.” Why does everyone hate Chardonnay?
and this is for wines marketed as “dry.” Alternately, some companies advertise their no-adjustment wines as “0 sugar” to appeal to low-sugar diets.
—J. Harps
Any wine fermentation leaves a minuscule amount of unfermentable sugars, so even a completely dry wine (including “0 sugar” wines) can have 1 to 2 grams per litre. If you want a dry, pretty much zero-sugar wine, just ask us! We have many options on the shelves. For a very affordable, delicious, (real) dry red from Spain, try Telmo Rodriguez 2019 Monastrell Al Muvedre ($16.99).
Chardonnay is so misunderstood! There’s a preconceived notion that all Chardonnay is full bodied and overly buttery, with a ton of oak, when this is far from the truth. The grape is somewhat of a shapeshifter depending on where it grows and what the winemaker decides to do with it. Chardonnay can be made into a variety of styles. Oak is a key trigger for many people when it comes to Chardonnay, but oak is not the enemy! It depends on how the oak is used: wellintegrated oak can add fantastic character to the wine. Just ask white Burgundy! Most people have yet to discover the Chardonnay that makes them love this versatile grape. I’m a firm believer that there is a Chardonnay style for everyone: exploring Chardonnay can lead you to some of the world’s finest wines.
I bought the Weingut Werlitsch Glück Sauvignon Blanc a few months back. What is the purpose of the clay bottle? Being a potter, I have a hard time throwing it out. It is such a nice container! Can it be used again to temporarily store another white wine, assuming that it will store the wine in a more insulated fashion? —Paul Loewen
If you love fresh, bright whites, try a Chablis, like Domaine des Malandes 2019 Chablis ($48.99). If you like a tropical wine, try a warmclimate Chardonnay such as Bleeding Heart 2020 Chardonnay (Australia, $18.99). Love bubbles? Well, you might be surprised to find out that Chardonnay is a main variety in Champagne and most sparkling wines! Try Laherte Frères nv Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature Champagne, France ($76.99). —Ricki-Lee Podolecki I recently saw wine advertising “0 sugar.” What’s up with that? —Tom Penner Fermentation transforms grape sugar into alcohol; therefore, a dry wine should have 0 sugar, right? Well, not always. Sugar can remain because the wine might be a sweet style, using concentrated sugars in harvested grapes (think Icewine, Sauternes, and medium-sweetness wines). Sugar can also be added to the wine for a smoother, richer taste. This adjustment can be plain or concentrated grape must, and it is more common than we might expect: examples include many commercially popular red wines. Some of these contain 15 grams of sugar per litre—imagine an almost-full tablespoon of sugar stirred into your bottle— 14 Order online: JonesWines.com/shop
—Sylvia Jansen
The bottle you are talking about comes from a biodynamic winery in Styria, Austria. The packaging certainly is beautiful. The clay bottle is a nod to ancient amphoras used for ageing and shipping in ancient wine regions in Greece and Portugal. The vessels are still used in traditional winemaking in Georgia (where they call them qvevri). This ancient method is also seeing a bit of an experimental revival in the United States and Australia. Storing wine in porous clay allows some oxygen to enter the vessel (not as much as oak does, but more than the oxygen-free environment of stainless steel). However, clay offers none of the flavour that oak can impart: it is flavour-neutral like stainless steel. The bottle is glazed, so you can store wine for a short period or use it for serving. I wouldn’t age wine in it, because it would be hard to seal. If you want to decant, it would be better to use a wider-mouthed vessel made for that. The winery website suggests the bottles make a lovely vase after use, and I would follow their advice. —Saralyn Mehta
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