Just 40 years ago, wine was a kind of hit-or-miss beverage. But times change, and today almost every wine we see on the retail shelf or in a restaurant is perfectly sound.
Spoilage was so rampant in the 1970s that experts were employed at most upscale restaurants to make certain that the wines being purchased were sound and free of imperfections.
Even though Louis Pasteur had investigated the principles of fermentation in the mid-1850s, for decades after, some aspects of alcoholic fermentation were still not widely understood. But scientists made huge strides in this area, and clean, fault-free wine today is a result.
The proof is in the development of excellent delicate white wines, which decades ago were wildly inconsistent.
For centuries, it was true that red wines were revered far more than whites. Today, some of the finest wines in the world are light whites that offer flavors we never saw in the past.
That’s because winemaking is improving, and most wineries now have modern equipment that handles the fruit more gently, protecting it from the ravages of air and keeping it fresher and livelier than it’s ever been.
Most of today’s white wines need no aging at all—they are simply delightful when fresh and young. Most whites benefit from being served cool; if served too cold, white wines’ subtle aromas can be stunned into submission.
One of the most dramatic examples of great charm in white wines is the development of great sauvignon blanc. Once called poor man’s chardonnay, sauvignon blanc was badly handled and often aged in oak, and the wines were erratic and not very tasty.
Beginning in the late 1990s, a wave of great sauvignon blancs from New Zealand began to be seen in the United States that displayed a grassy or gooseberry sort of aroma and were crisp enough to work with lighter foods.
Now that style has been widely adopted by hundreds of California wineries. Among the brands that now do stellar work with SB are Hanna, Dry Creek, St. Supery, Matanzas Creek, Quivira, Rodney Strong, and Robert Mondavi.
Years ago, pinot grigio and its U.S. counterpart, pinot gris, were lackluster whites with little flavor, but numerous California wineries now make great examples.
Perhaps the best “new” wine to hit the market is the rebirth of riesling in America. Riesling is now being made better than ever, and we are seeing terrific rieslings from many states, primarily Washington and New York, but also Ohio, Michigan, and Oregon.
Italian white wines once were considered to be so erratic because of bad equipment.
