The Refrigerator White – A glass of white wine for any time.

Hello everyone! Well, the weather is warming up and although it may not be summer yet, the official start of spring is just around the corner. Daylight savings has given us an extra hour of sunlight and the days will continue to get longer. This time of year we begin to look into purchases of our “Refrigerator White.” The refrigerator white is a wine that you buy by the case or back the truck up, and always have a bottle handy in the refrigerator. That way you can just have a nice refreshing cold glass of wine anytime you want. In our house, we have a mantra for this time of year and into the summer: “There must always be a bottle of cold white wine in the fridge at all times.”

Our requirements for the refrigerator white are the following:
(1) You absolutely love the wine and can have at any time of year.
(2) The wine is readily available and you can get it by the case.
(3) The wine is relatively inexpensive – generally $10 a bottle or less.
(4) We prefer wines with a screw cap since they hold better for a day or two in the fridge.

Over the years, we have been using two wines as our primary refrigerator whites: Geyser Peak Sauvignon Blanc and Chateau Bonnet White Bordeaux, a Sauvignon Blanc blend. We love the crisp acidity found in Sauvignon Blanc along with the citrus flavors of grapefruit, lemon and lime, a bit of grass, and enough fruit to be well balanced with a minerally finish. Both Geyser Peak and Chateau Bonnet have all of those characteristics and both come in a screw cap. One of the other aspects of Sauvignon Blanc that we like is that it is generally the least manipulated, or most honest, wine. Each of the regions that makes a Sauvignon Blancs – California, South America, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and France – will generally put its own stamp on the wine, a stamp that shows the best characteristics of the region. With Sauvignon Blancs from New Zealand, you tend to get a crisp, racy, grapefruity acidity, a fruit-forward wine with a real zing. In South Africa, you taste the fruit, but you can also taste more of the steel and mineral flavors that are characteristic of South African Sauvignon Blanc. French wines are usually a little more restrained, frequently balanced out with a bit of Semillon (another white wine grape) added.

Geyser Peak Sauvignon Blanc

In a previous post, we wrote about Geyser Peak’s Ascentia Cabernet Sauvignon, a high-end wine. We enjoy all of the offerings from Geyser Peak and belong to their wine club. For the past nineteen years, Geyser Peak has been making this wine in its pure style with no oak aging, no malolactic fermentation, and no winemaker tricks. To do this, they source grapes from cooler growing areas, pick some grapes early to preserve the acidity and grassiness, make each lot separately in stainless steel tanks under cool conditions. The result is probably one of the best showings of Sauvignon Blanc from California; flavors of green apples and lots of grapefruit and citrus, some grass and a hint of tropical fruit flavors to round it out with a good crisp finish.

Chateau Bonnet White Bordeaux

Chateau Bonnet is situated on chalky, clay slopes in the Graves region of Bordeaux, France, known as Entre-Deux-Mers, which translates to between two seas. In fact, it’s in an area that is between two rivers. It is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Muscadelle, another indigenous Bordeaux grape that should not be confused with Muscat or Moscatel. The result is a similar flavor profile as the Geyser Peak with good crisp acidity, nice citrus flavors with a good bit of peach and melon fruit and nice mouth feel. Many white Bordeaux winemakers stick to using just Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, but Andre Lurton adds that extra touch of Muscadelle, approximately 10%, that seems to make all the difference. White Bordeaux without the Muscadelle, or that has a greater percentage of Semillon, can be a little too lean and grassy for our tastes. Chateau Bonnet has switched to a screw cap with the 2008 vintage.

Both wines can retail for as low as $8.99 which makes them a steal, but you’ll typically see them in the $10 range and perhaps a little more. If ordered by the case, you might get a 10% or 15% discount which helps bring the cost down. Geyser Peak should be available anywhere, and Chateau Bonnet has become more and more available to us over the past few years.

So go to your favorite wine, grocery, or package store and pick up a case of either one, or six and six, and enjoy for the next few months. Just remember, when you are getting to the end of the bottle, remember our mantra, and make sure you put another in the fridge.

Drink what you like, like what you drink!

Rachel and Bryan Gavini