Whites for winter

Odyssey, Reserve Iliad, Gisborne Chardonnay 2007. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Summer still seems like a season too far away, so to hasten its arrival perhaps we should start drinking some white wines to give us the illusion of an early warm season.

Reds straddle the seasons without difficulty but there's no doubt they come into their own during those stormy, cold nights when windows rattle and fireplaces are ablaze. A glass of red before an open fire can bring joy to a dreary soul.

We ought not, however, relegate white wine to only times when the sun shines, the sea is warm and our clothing light and frivolous. Some whites can embrace, enrich and add real value to winter dishes — it's not just about being appropriate for salads, seafood and sunshine.

Chardonnay, for example, can be a welcome relief from an endless wall of reds, as can that most versatile and misunderstood of wines, gewurztraminer.

I've deliberately chosen two whites that don't seem to be overly fashionable at the moment. Chardonnay because it's always been there and we've become enamoured with newer varietals — specifically pinot gris. And the sprightly aromatic gewurztraminer because we simply still don't get it. We've never been more spoiled for choice when it comes to chardonnay.

The new wave of styles rely less on big, woody, oak-overload and deliver more clean, lean, understated subtle fruit characters that are food-friendly, especially for winter dishes like chicken, pasta, veal, fish and rice.

And ignore all bad flashbacks of gewurztraminer or what you thought was gewurztraminer. This is one funky, multi-talented wine that can be served as a lovely aperitif or to enhance Asian or Japanese cuisine as well as some spicy fish and meat dishes. It goes well, too, with goat's cheese, and local, long-suffering producers have delivered world-class gewurtztraminers.

Recommended

2007 Saint Clair Godfreys Creek Gewurztraminer
Versatile, smart Marlborough producer delivering excellent value, well-crafted wines. Medium-bodied with soft texture. Crushed rose petals, lychees and Turkish delight. Drinking now.
Price: $27 2007

Odyssey Reserve Iliad Gisborne Chardonnay
From the self-proclaimed chardonnay capital of New Zealand. Elegant, concentrated, vibrant with lashings of ripe peach, melon and fig. Subtle, integrated nutty oak. Fulsome.
Price: $30