White wine covers more ground than most people realise. From bone-dry and mineral to lush and tropical, from paper-thin and spritzy to rich and textured, the category stretches across dozens of grapes, hundreds of regions, and an enormous range of styles. Knowing your way around even a handful of the key varieties makes choosing a bottle dramatically easier, and more fun.
This is part one of our guide, covering twelve of the most important and interesting white wine grapes you will encounter. For each one we have explained what the grape is, where it comes from, what it typically tastes like, and what it works with at the table. We have also picked out a favourite bottle from our shelves to show you what the grape can do when it is grown and made well.
Whether you are just getting into wine or simply looking to fill in some gaps, this is a good place to start. Browse our full white wine collection whenever you are ready to explore.
1. Sauvignon Blanc
Sauvignon Blanc is one of the most widely recognised white wine grapes in the world, and one of the most polarising. At its most commercial, it means bright, punchy, tropical New Zealand Marlborough: big passionfruit and grapefruit, high acidity, and not much else going on. At its best, it is something considerably more interesting.
In the Loire Valley, the spiritual home of serious Sauvignon Blanc, the grape produces wines of real precision: flinty, mineral, with citrus and white blossom rather than tropical fruit, and a freshness that makes them brilliant with food. Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé are the most celebrated expressions. But there are excellent Sauvignon Blancs coming from Slovenia, South Africa, New Zealand's smaller producers, and the south of France, all with their own character.
What to expect: citrus, green herbs, white blossom, sometimes tropical fruit, and almost always lively acidity. Dry, clean, and food-friendly.
What it works with: seafood, goat's cheese, salads, grilled vegetables, fish tacos, anything with a fresh, herby quality.
Try: Domaine Saint Louis Sauvignon Blanc | Languedoc, France | £18
Seven generations of organic farming behind this one. Fresh blossom, citrus, pomelo and passionfruit on the nose, with a stony minerality that keeps the finish clean and energetic. A brilliant introduction to what Sauvignon Blanc looks like when it is made with care rather than formula.
2. Chardonnay
Chardonnay is the world's most planted white wine grape and, depending on who you ask, either the best or the most overrated. The truth is that Chardonnay itself is relatively neutral: it is a blank canvas that expresses its terroir and the winemaker's choices more than almost any other variety. Which is exactly why it can be so different from bottle to bottle.
In Burgundy, it produces some of the greatest white wines ever made: mineral, precise, and complex, whether from a village Macon or a grand cru Montrachet. In Champagne it is the backbone of Blanc de Blancs. In the Jura it takes on a nutty, oxidative quality. In Australia and California it can be rich, tropical and full of oak. And in the hands of natural wine producers across Europe, it becomes something lively, textured and entirely its own.
What to expect: varies enormously by origin and style, from lean and citrus-driven to rich and buttery. Look for apple, lemon, peach, toast, cream, and sometimes a beautiful mineral streak.
What it works with: roast chicken, pasta with cream sauces, fish dishes, soft cheeses, anything with richness that needs a wine with enough body to stand up to it.
Try: Bulliat Beaujolais Blanc 'Sur Le Granit' | Beaujolais, France | £24
Organically farmed by father and son Noël and Loïc Bulliat. Lemon curd and chamomile on the nose, ripe yellow pear and chalky minerality on the palate, with crisp acidity and a lovely creamy texture. Chardonnay at a price that makes it very easy to explore.
3. Pinot Grigio
Few grapes have suffered more from their own success than Pinot Grigio. The name became synonymous with pale, thin, mass-produced Italian white: something to order when you cannot think of anything else. Which is a shame, because the grape itself, when grown carefully and made well, is capable of something much more interesting.
Pinot Grigio and Pinot Gris are the same grape: the Italian name suggests the lighter, crisper style; the Alsatian name suggests something richer, more aromatic and more complex. In Alsace, Pinot Gris can be rich, spiced and age-worthy. In the hands of serious Italian producers, Pinot Grigio at its crispest and most refreshing is a genuinely enjoyable wine: light, clean, aromatic, and endlessly food-friendly. In Germany and Austria, it produces delicate, aromatic whites with good freshness.
What to expect: in the lighter Italian style, pear, apple, white flowers and light citrus. In richer Alsatian expressions, honey, spice and stone fruit.
What it works with: lighter Italian food, antipasti, seafood, risotto, grilled fish, soft cheeses. One of the most universally easy-going whites at the table.
Try: Ke Bonta Pinot Grigio | Piemonte, Italy | £10
Crisp and light, with delicate aromas of white flowers and notes of ripe citrus and green apple on the palate. Easy-drinking and refreshing, with the kind of clean, gentle character that makes it perfect for warm evenings, lighter food or as an aperitif. Vegan. An honest, no-fuss Pinot Grigio at a very friendly price.
4. Chenin Blanc
Chenin Blanc is one of the most versatile white wine grapes in the world, capable of producing everything from bone-dry still wines to luscious sweet dessert wines to some of the finest sparkling wines outside of Champagne. And yet it remains underappreciated, possibly because it does so many things that people find it hard to pin down.
The Loire Valley is its heartland: Vouvray, Savennières, Anjou and Saumur are its great appellations, and the best examples age for decades with extraordinary grace. In South Africa, where it is the most widely planted white grape, it produces a completely different character: tropical, sunny, often made in a natural style with vivid freshness and personality. In the hands of natural wine producers across both hemispheres it is one of the most exciting grapes in the world: honest, expressive, and alive.
What to expect: quince, apple, honey, white flowers, sometimes beeswax. Dry examples have a waxy richness balanced by bright acidity. Can be surprisingly complex for the price.
What it works with: seafood, poultry, creamy vegetarian dishes, roasted root vegetables. Brilliant with food across almost any style.
Try: Nuvo Nivo Intaba Chenin Blanc | Western Cape, South Africa | £22
From vines planted in decomposed shale with uninterrupted views of Table Mountain, made in collaboration between Modal and winemaker Angelo Van Dyk. Aromatic nose of quince, apple and stone fruit with a gentle creaminess from barrel fermentation. The palate is structured and textured without heaviness, with a freshness and acidity that keeps everything alive. South African Chenin Blanc at its most characterful.
5. Albarino
Albarino is Galicia's great white grape, grown in the Rias Baixas region of north-west Spain where the Atlantic Ocean keeps the climate cool and damp. It produces wines of real freshness and personality: crisp, aromatic, naturally high in acidity, and with a saline mineral quality that makes them irresistible with seafood.
The grape has spread beyond Galicia and is also widely grown in Portugal's Vinho Verde region, where it is called Alvarinho and forms part of many of the region's best wines. In both cases the character is similar: lively, aromatic, citrus-driven and refreshing, with a distinctive slightly bitter finish that keeps you going back.
What to expect: lemon, grapefruit, green apple, white peach, white flowers, and a saline, almost oyster-like minerality. High acidity, dry finish, light to medium body.
What it works with: shellfish, oysters, grilled fish, seafood paella, anything from the sea. One of the best food wines in the world for the right dish.
Try: Mar de Envero Terra Norte | Rias Baixas, Galicia, Spain | £22
The personal project of winemaker Miguel Angel Moreira, who trained with producers including Raúl Pérez before returning to Galicia to craft wines that express the Atlantic character of Rias Baixas. Ripe peach, candied lemon and pineapple mixed with fresh Atlantic minerality. Bright acidity, a light limey spritz and a long tropical finish. A brilliant, characterful Albarino.
6. Riesling
Riesling is arguably the most misunderstood grape in the world. The name conjures up memories of sweet, flabby, low-quality wine from the 1980s, and the misconception has stuck. In reality, dry Riesling is one of the most precise, mineral and age-worthy white wines made anywhere, and even the sweeter styles have a piercing acidity that stops them ever feeling heavy.
Germany's Mosel, Rhine and Nahe regions are the classic reference points: wines of extraordinary delicacy, with laser-sharp acidity, low alcohol and a complexity that develops beautifully over decades. Alsace produces a richer, more textured style. Australia's Clare and Eden Valleys make a completely different version: bone dry, intensely mineral, with a characteristic lime-and-petrol character. Austria, Slovakia and beyond all have producers doing genuinely interesting things with the grape.
What to expect: lime, green apple, white peach, sometimes petrol or slate in older wines. High acidity, precise, long finish. Dry examples are among the most food-friendly wines made.
What it works with: spiced food, Asian cuisines, pork, duck, fresh cheeses. One of the few wines that genuinely works with challenging dishes like Thai or Indian food.
Try: Clemens Busch Riesling Trocken | Mosel, Germany | £22 | Organic, Biodynamic, Vegan, Low Sulphite
A beautiful and classic Mosel Riesling from a producer who has been making low-intervention wines since the 1970s. Flinty minerality and zingy acidity, with bright zesty citrus and crunchy green fruit. Fresh, dry and utterly precise. At 10.5% ABV, one of the most elegant and food-friendly whites on our shelf.
7. Gewurztraminer
Gewurztraminer is one of the most immediately recognisable white wine grapes in the world. Once you know what it tastes like, you never forget it: intensely aromatic, heady with lychee, rose petal and Turkish delight, with a rich, almost oily texture and a spicy warmth that makes it unlike anything else. It is not subtle, and it is not trying to be.
Alsace in north-east France is its great home, where the grape reaches a level of aromatic intensity that no other region quite matches. The best Alsatian Gewurztraminers are complex and age-worthy, with enough richness to stand alongside powerful food. Outside Alsace, it is grown in Germany, Austria, northern Italy, and pockets of the New World, though none quite replicate the classic Alsatian character.
What to expect: lychee, rose petal, Turkish delight, ginger, sometimes mango and exotic spice. Full-bodied, low in acidity, often with some residual sugar even in dry styles. The aromatics are the point: this is a grape that fills a room.
What it works with: Alsatian cuisine is the obvious answer, which means choucroute, tarte flambée, munster cheese, foie gras, and rich pork dishes. But it also works beautifully with spiced food: Moroccan tagine, Thai green curry, Vietnamese pho. The sweetness and aromatics handle spice in a way that drier, more acidic whites cannot.
Try: Andre Scherer Gewurztraminer Reserve | Alsace, France | £21
From a sunny Alsace hillside vineyard, aged for 10 months in century-old oak barrels. A rich, aromatic nose of Turkish delight, rose petal and lychee, with a good lick of residual sugar that makes the fruit shine and good acidity for balance. The Scherer family have been making wine in the village of Husseren for over 200 years. A textbook Alsatian Gewurztraminer at a very honest price.
8. Gruner Veltliner
Gruner Veltliner is Austria's flagship white grape and one of the great food wines of the world. It produces wines that are refreshing, precise and pleasingly peppery, with a characteristic white pepper note that sets them apart from any other variety. The best examples, from the Wachau, Kamptal and Kremstal regions, are genuinely age-worthy and complex. The everyday versions are crisp, lively and extremely versatile at the table.
The grape is little known outside of Austria, which makes it consistently good value for what you get. Natural wine producers in Austria have embraced Gruner Veltliner enthusiastically, making low-intervention versions that show off the grape's freshness and typicity without the heavy hand of new oak or commercial yeasts.
What to expect: white pepper, citrus, green herbs, sometimes stone fruit in riper examples. High acidity, dry, medium body. The pepper note is the giveaway.
What it works with: one of the most food-friendly grapes in the world. Asparagus, artichokes, sushi, lighter meat dishes, grilled fish, vegetable-forward cooking. If a dish is difficult to pair, try Gruner Veltliner.
Try: Gruner Veltliner Handcrafted, MA Arndorfer Mitges | Kamptal, Austria | £20 | Organic, Vegan, Low Sulphite
Slightly cloudy Gruner with delicious rounded grapey fruit, a fleshy palate, and hints of herbs and white spice on the long finish. From Martin and Anna Arndorfer, who farm organically in Kamptal and make wine with minimal intervention. An unusual and characterful alternative for anyone who wants to go beyond the obvious, and excellent value for the quality.
9. Trebbiano
Trebbiano is Italy's most widely planted white grape, found from Tuscany to Abruzzo and beyond. It is also, in its most basic form, one of the most unremarkable: neutral, high in acid, light in flavour, and historically used as much for bulk wine production as for anything worth drinking. Which makes it easy to overlook.
But in the right hands and the right place, Trebbiano is genuinely interesting. In Abruzzo, where it has a specific DOC designation, it can be crisp, aromatic and food-friendly in a way the grape is rarely given credit for. And the grape forms part of many of the most interesting natural white blends coming out of central Italy.
What to expect: in everyday versions, light citrus, green apple, clean acidity. In better examples, more aromatic depth, floral notes and a refreshing bitter finish.
What it works with: light pasta dishes, pesto, seafood, salads, lighter antipasti. A wine for food, not for overthinking.
Try: Amoterra Trebbiano d'Abruzzo | Abruzzo, Italy | £14 | Organic
Light and refreshing, full of floral aromas and vibrant flavours of apple, pear and citrus. Amoterra means "to love the land" and the organic farming behind this wine reflects that. Made in Abruzzo on the Adriatic coastline, it is a clean, honest and very drinkable Trebbiano at an excellent price.
10. Vinho Verde
Vinho Verde is one of the best kept secrets in white wine. The name means green wine, referring not to the colour but to the youth of the wine when it is drunk: fresh, lively, made to be opened young and enjoyed immediately. It comes from the Minho region in north-west Portugal, close to Galicia across the Spanish border, and the climate there produces wines with high natural acidity and a slight spritz that makes them irresistibly refreshing.
The grape varieties behind Vinho Verde include Loureiro, Arinto, Alvarinho and Trajadura, each bringing something slightly different. The best single-varietal Vinho Verdes, particularly those made from Alvarinho or Loureiro, are more complex and serious than the blended versions most people encounter. Low in alcohol, high in acidity and naturally spritzy, Vinho Verde is one of the most thirst-quenching whites in the world.
What to expect: lemon, lime, green apple, white flowers, a slight natural fizz, high acidity and low alcohol. Dry, light and refreshing.
What it works with: seafood, shellfish, lighter fish dishes, salads, summer food in general. Excellent as a warm-weather aperitif.
Try: Chin Chin Vinho Verde, Quinta do Ermizio | Vinho Verde, Portugal | £13 | Low Sulphite, Sustainable
Bright notes of pear and nectarine balanced by coastal salinity and a slight spritz. Delicious, ethically made and excellent value, produced in partnership with Noble Rot magazine. Made from Loureiro, Arinto and Trajadura grapes. Refreshing, honest and very easy to love. One of our bestsellers for a reason.
11. White Rioja
White Rioja is one of the most underrated wines in the world. While red Rioja has global recognition, the white version made from the Viura grape (also called Macabeo) has lived in its shadow for decades. That is changing, as both traditional and natural wine producers rediscover what Viura can do when it is farmed well and made without shortcuts.
The traditional unoaked style is crisp and aromatic, with bright tropical fruit, good acidity and a refreshing, slightly bitter finish. The barrel-aged style becomes rich, textured and complex, sometimes compared to white Burgundy. The most interesting natural versions are finding a middle ground: fresh, honest, expressive of the grape and the place without the heavy hand of new oak.
What to expect: in the fresh style, grapefruit, tropical fruit, white flowers, and lively acidity. In older oak-aged versions, vanilla, toast, honey, and a creamy texture.
What it works with: sushi, East Asian cuisines, white meat, creamy pasta, grilled fish. Versatile and food-friendly.
Try: Kaori Rioja Blanco | Rioja, Spain | £18
Made from Viura with subtle oak, dry, rich and textured. Hints of sake and florals on the nose, with grapefruit, tropical fruit, vanilla and pepper on the palate. A lively, refreshing acidity keeps everything honest. A confident, well-made white Rioja at a price that makes it easy to explore.
12. Picpoul
Picpoul is the Languedoc's great indigenous white grape, grown almost exclusively around the Thau lagoon near Sète in the south of France. The name translates as lip-stinger, a reference to the grape's naturally high acidity, and that acidity is exactly what makes it so brilliant alongside seafood. Bone dry, crisp and saline, Picpoul de Pinet is one of the most straightforwardly enjoyable white wines in France, and one of the best-value seafood wines in the world.
It is not a grape that demands deep contemplation. It is not trying to be Burgundy. What it does, it does better than almost anything else at its price: it refreshes, it pairs, it disappears from the glass before you have noticed. Picpoul has quietly become one of the most popular whites in the UK and it is easy to understand why.
What to expect: lemon, grapefruit, green melon, white flowers, and a distinctive saline, almost briny quality that makes it irresistible alongside food from the sea. Light-bodied, dry, high in acidity and very refreshing.
What it works with: oysters and shellfish are the classic pairing, but Picpoul works with anything from the sea: grilled prawns, moules marinières, fish and chips, ceviche, seafood platters. Also brilliant with salads, lighter pasta dishes and Asian food with clean, bright flavours.
Try: Christophe Muret CB Picpoul de Pinet | Languedoc, France | £15 | Sustainable
A fun and easygoing Picpoul from one of our favourite producers in the south of France. Melon and floral aromas open up to citrus and silky salinity on the palate. Thirst-quenching, playful and very much a crowd-pleaser. Brilliant with fresh seafood or on its own on a warm evening. Everything Picpoul de Pinet should be.
Where to go next
This is part one of our guide to white wine grapes. These twelve cover a huge amount of ground, from the classic to the underrated to the genuinely exciting, and getting to know them is one of the most enjoyable ways to develop your palate.
If you want to explore further, browse our white wine collection at Forest Wines, or take a look at our natural wine and organic wine ranges where many of the most interesting producers from each of these grapes are working. Come in to the shop in Walthamstow and we will help you find the right bottle for wherever you are in your wine journey.
