At Purple Teeth, we can't get enough of wines that make our teeth purple, but we love white wines too - here are some we've tasted recently. These all come from Naked Wines and prices quoted include the Angel discount
£8.99
Californian Gewurztraminer? Yes, I was surprised too. I love Alsace and all it's aromatic wines, and I also love California's gigantic reds... How would they cross? This wine was understated by Californian standards. An amazing Grand Cru Alsace Gewurz has many layers of flavour and can punch you in the mouth almost as hard as a big Zinfandel. Not this wine. It's made by a chef and designed to be food friendly, it's medium bodied and with a medium lingering flavouring, but relatively simple. It's low acidity making it easier on the teeth, and it has that hint of the exotic that means it would pair well with Asian cuisine. The signature flavour of the Gewurztraminer grape is lychee, and that's what I found here. In Alsace, I may also find roses. I'm looking forward to trying Naked's Alsace wines soon, as several arrived in the same shipment.
£9.49
Next on the list was a Vouvray. For anyone who's less familiar with the French Appelations (and I know I was), Vouvray is part of the Loire Valley in France, and makes wines from the Chenin Blanc grape. It's unusual in that wines can be dry, off dry, sweet, dessert wines or even sparkling and all be called Vouvray. Some of the wines are also suitable for long bottle aging, something I wouldn't recommend for most whites.
So back to the Naked version. This one is off dry though I didn't really notice the sweetness after the initial sip. It's got grapefruit, medium to low acidity (rather unexpectedly) and is a nice simple, easy drinking wine. It's not wow like some Vouvrays I've tasted, but compared to some of the Chenin Blancs out there, it's pretty good. If you fancy a change from your South African wines, give it a go, but if you're a fan of Loire Valley Sancerres, this may not be aromatic enough for you.
So back to the Naked version. This one is off dry though I didn't really notice the sweetness after the initial sip. It's got grapefruit, medium to low acidity (rather unexpectedly) and is a nice simple, easy drinking wine. It's not wow like some Vouvrays I've tasted, but compared to some of the Chenin Blancs out there, it's pretty good. If you fancy a change from your South African wines, give it a go, but if you're a fan of Loire Valley Sancerres, this may not be aromatic enough for you.
£9.99
Alsace and Riesling. Words that together set my pulse racing. You may have gathered I'm a fan of big aromatic flavoured wines, and Alsace specialises in aromatic, noble varieties. I took the plunge and ordered this Riesling because I find Riesling a very food friendly grape, and recent Alsace varieties I've tried have reminded me just how good this grape can be.
I found very little Riesling character in this version. It's not billed as off-dry but it definitely doesn't taste fully dry. There's some minerality but little peach, floral or citrus aromas and the flavour was surprisingly simple for an Alsace Riesling. This sounds like a negative review, but the wine was very drinkable. It's just not what I was expecting from the grape and region combination. The acidity is reasonably high, but I expected screamingly high so felt a bit disappointed. Drinking it should flood the mouth with saliva, washing away fatty foods that accompany it so well like fried fish dishes. This was more subtle. I saved some to drink the next day, and it fared remarkably well. Many whites fade after the first opening. So, I am going out on a limb here to suggest that perhaps this wine will improve with age. Naked's recommendation is that it will last at least 5 years. I have 3 other Alsace wines by the same winemaker in the fridge. I hope they fare better against my expectations.
Perhaps it's because it's February but white wines aren't going down so well right now. I'm off to Washington DC shortly for a couple of weeks, and look forward to trying some Virginian wines. Perhaps when I get back, spring will have sprung and those whites in the fridge will be regaining their pull.
I found very little Riesling character in this version. It's not billed as off-dry but it definitely doesn't taste fully dry. There's some minerality but little peach, floral or citrus aromas and the flavour was surprisingly simple for an Alsace Riesling. This sounds like a negative review, but the wine was very drinkable. It's just not what I was expecting from the grape and region combination. The acidity is reasonably high, but I expected screamingly high so felt a bit disappointed. Drinking it should flood the mouth with saliva, washing away fatty foods that accompany it so well like fried fish dishes. This was more subtle. I saved some to drink the next day, and it fared remarkably well. Many whites fade after the first opening. So, I am going out on a limb here to suggest that perhaps this wine will improve with age. Naked's recommendation is that it will last at least 5 years. I have 3 other Alsace wines by the same winemaker in the fridge. I hope they fare better against my expectations.
Perhaps it's because it's February but white wines aren't going down so well right now. I'm off to Washington DC shortly for a couple of weeks, and look forward to trying some Virginian wines. Perhaps when I get back, spring will have sprung and those whites in the fridge will be regaining their pull.
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