White Wine

Q: What is the difference between a crisp white and a rich one?

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Q: Which white wine is easiest to buy for someone else?

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Q: Should white wine be served straight from the fridge?

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Q: How long will an opened bottle of white wine last?

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From crisp Chablis to rich Napa Chardonnay

White wine from Napa, Chablis, Marlborough and South Africa - Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Jean-Marc Brocard, Dog Point and Alheit among them. The range runs from crisp and bright through to rich and opulent, so you can choose by how it drinks.

White wine from Napa, Marlborough and the Cape

Chardonnay is the largest part of the white range, led by California - Stag's Leap Wine Cellars KARIA from Napa among them. Sauvignon Blanc comes mainly from Marlborough in New Zealand, where the grape does something no other region quite copies. South Africa brings Chenin Blanc, and Spain and Piedmont add Albariño and Cortese at the lighter end. It is a short list by design, with several bottles from each place rather than one from everywhere.

Crisp, pure or rich: choosing white wine by texture

Texture is the thing people actually choose on, so the range is grouped by it. Crisp and bright whites are the sharp, unoaked end - Sauvignon Blanc and Albariño live here. Rich and opulent whites are the opposite: fuller, usually oak-aged, mostly Chardonnay. Pure and elegant whites sit between the two, and are the safest place to start if you are buying for someone else.

Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and the rest of the range

Chardonnay is the most versatile white grape there is, which is why it appears at both ends of the texture range - unoaked and sharp in one bottle, full and creamy in another, from the same variety. Sauvignon Blanc is more consistent, and more obviously itself. Chenin Blanc is the one worth trying if you already know both: it can be made dry and taut or full and waxy, and South Africa does more with it than anywhere outside the Loire.

White wine gifts and tracked UK delivery

White wine here is mostly bought to drink, and ships in packaging built to protect the bottle rather than to present it. Where it is going as a gift, the Champagne gifts range covers the boxed and ribboned side of the shop. Orders go tracked across the UK mainland with next-day available.

The Fulham Wine Co. Take

White is where a wine list shows its hand. The style groupings here - crisp, pure, rich - exist because texture is what people actually choose on, and it is the question we get asked more than any other. Everything on the list is something we would pour ourselves.

FAQs About White Wine

What is the difference between a crisp white and a rich one?

Acidity and oak, mostly. A crisp white is sharper and lighter in the mouth and usually sees no oak - Sauvignon Blanc is the obvious example. A rich white is fuller and rounder, generally from oak ageing or a warmer climate, and Chardonnay is where you find most of them.

Which white wine is easiest to buy for someone else?

Something from the middle of the texture range rather than either extreme. Very sharp whites and very oaky ones both divide opinion; a balanced Chardonnay or a good Chenin Blanc rarely does. If you know they drink Sauvignon Blanc, a Marlborough bottle is a safe answer.

Should white wine be served straight from the fridge?

Usually a little warmer. Fridge temperature flattens aroma, which matters more the better the wine is. Ten minutes out of the fridge before pouring is enough for a crisp white; a richer Chardonnay benefits from twenty.

How long will an opened bottle of white wine last?

Two or three days re-corked in the fridge, and richer, oak-aged whites tend to hold up better than the sharpest ones. It will change rather than spoil - the aromatics fade first while the palate stays drinkable for a while after.