Love bright, lively whites packed with fresh fruit flavours? Take your pick.
Sauvignon blanc can be a polarising wine, but forget the haters – there’s a lot to love about this fruity, bright white. For starters, it’s one of the greatest choices for sunny afternoons with friends. Pop it in an ice bucket and try to tell us we’re wrong. It’s also come a long way since its blockbuster tropical styles. New Zealand producers, who trailblazed those exuberant wines, have been busy diversifying their savs, and Aussies have fine-tuned their own deliciously crisp, refined takes, too.
Still, if you only ever go for sauvignon blanc, you’re missing other brilliant varieties that fit the same vibrant-wine bill. And if you’re after a white to share with an anti-sav friend, the ideas below should keep you both very happy.
This one grape makes two key wine styles, so it offers double the chance of scratching that sauvignon blanc itch. Pinot gris, the French version, is the richer of the two, with some fruit-sweetness making it a fuller wine. Pinot grigio, meanwhile, hails from Italy and is a crisper, fresher style that’s high in acidity. But just to keep things interesting, styles vary widely regardless of the wine name on the label, giving us even more reason to try them.
If you’re into New Zealand savs, try the Kiwi Isabel Estate Pinot Gris, which has the variety’s inherent stone fruit, ginger and spice notes. For a lively Aussie grigio, we recommend the dry, Italian-inspired Dal Zotto Pinot Grigio.
If it’s the fresh fruit flavours and bright acidity you love about sav, then riesling is your friend. So often overlooked as a sweet wine, riesling is thriving across Australia in an array of dry, vibrant styles. In place of sauvignon’s hallmark passionfruit and gooseberry, expect lime, lemon and pretty florals. And as one of those wine descriptions that sound gross but taste amazing, there’s a ‘talcum-powder’ element that often comes through, too. It’s way better than it sounds, promise.
Riesling is an incredible wine match for a slew of dishes, especially where spice or lemon is involved. Some pristine examples of this variety are rolling out of WA’s Great Southern, while South Australia’s Eden Valley and Clare Valley are home to some true benchmark examples – don’t miss the Pikes Traditionale Riesling.
Semillon can be made into sweet dessert wines, but it’s the dry styles that Australian producers have truly made their own, and these are the ones to seek out if you love sav. As a young wine, semillon is fresh, bright and packed with citrus flavours (serve it with seafood for the ultimate pairing), but few wines evolve like semillon does over time. With bottle age, semillon transforms into a rich, honeyed and deeply complex wine.
The NSW Hunter Valley is the undisputed king of straight semillon wines – try the classic Brokenwood Semillon. But if you’re taking baby steps away from sav, the excellent semillon sauvignon blanc blends of WA’s Margaret River are for you. Go for the Deep Woods Hillside Semillon Sauvignon Blanc.
Sharing its bright fruit and high acidity in common with sauvignon blanc, vermentino is a great alternative option. Originally from Italy, vermentino’s flavours veer from apple and lime to grapefruit and a nutty almond, and it can also have a salty kick on the finish, which creates an intriguing complexity (and works brilliantly with salty snacks).
Like most varieties, styles differ, spanning light and fresh to creamier and richer. For a Tuscan take on this wine, look out for the Rocca de Montemassi Calsole Vermentino. This expression is a mix of white flowers, spice and ripe fruit flavours alongside fresh citrus notes and that trademark almond. The vermentino grape thrives in warm conditions, so keep your eyes peeled for an increasing number of standout homegrown examples from various regions.
If you’re new to this aromatic white variety, brace yourself for something different. We’ve included it here because if you enjoy sauvignon blanc’s overtly fruity ways, there’s a good chance you’ll warm to gewürztraminer (ga-vertz-tra-meena). It’s full of rose water aromas and flavours, which fall into the Turkish delight spectrum, along with fruit flavours like lychee, grapefruit and orange citrus. There’s also an innate ginger character that makes this wine anything but one-dimensional.
Gewürztraminer comes into its own with spicy food – consider Thai and gewürz a perfect pair. And like so many other aromatic whites, it thrives in cool climates, such as our own Tasmania and Adelaide Hills, as well as across New Zealand. For a benchmark varietal example from France’s Alsace, we recommend the Dopff Au Moulin Gewürztraminer.
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