The White vs. Red Debate

[Jenise]

Just now I had Fed Ex *and* UPS trucks in the driveway at the same time. They delivered:

1 case Matthews Claret
5 bottles Dauvissat Chablis
5 bottles Droin Chablis
2 bottles Christian Moreau Chablis
6 bottles Pouilly Fuisse
3 bottles Donnhoff GG

So, 12 vs. 21. I think that pretty well describes what we drink these days.

So, 12 vs. 21. I think that pretty well describes what we drink these days.

Interesting. Any particular reason? The food you eat?

In Germany I was even more skewed towards white wine, because of my relatively greater interest in German riesling as opposed to spatburgunder. But at home in NC, I tend to be much more slanted towards red wine.

This debate (white x red) englobes many factors, but in my opinion the main one is the combination between culture and climate. Many people will argument about the food synergy, and that is true, some wines require you to combine them with rich-in-lipid food to combine with the ammount of fenolic compounds (I mean combine taste-wise).

Personally, over all the year I consume more white (sparkling or not) wine, mostly because of the freshness (from acidity) in mouth and strength of aromas, which matches better with the brazillian summer and spring, even I living in a subtropical area. But most of my friends will consume much more red wine overall because of the cultural concept the have.

[Jenise]

Interesting. Any particular reason? The food you eat?

I actually don't think my cooking's changed very much, so it can't be that. In fact, my cooking is changing now as a process of adaption toward white wine. It's like we're having a love affair with freshness and acidity, and so many of our red wines, bought ten years ago when we preferred bigger bodied reds, now seem a bit heavy. Our climate certainly dictates some choices--whites in summer, red in winter--but we don't seem to be transitioning back as quickly as we used to. Too, we often prefer a white as an aperitif so much of the time it makes sense to finish that bottle rather than open something else--but it's more than mere practicality.

[Jenise]

even I living in a subtropical area. But most of my friends will consume much more red wine overall because of the cultural concept the have.

Easy to appreciate--when I travel to tropical areas I drink nothing but white. The opposite is true of where I live, we have real winters here where most people drink red as soon as the daytime temps dip under 60F. It's very unusual here to drink as much white as Bob and I do these days--I'd say we've gone from 90/10 red to about 60/40 white.

[Jenise]

Oh, and forgive me coehlo.sabido for not welcoming you to WLDG. Welcome!

Jenise: We lie near Siberacuse..no shortage of cold weather or snow..and I too find myself transitioning more towards whites and roses while drinking down the reds in my cellar...I think my palate has changed over the years and also, we are eating less meat than before. A quick look at purchases over the past 6 months shows roughly 25% red, 65% white and 10% rose

[David M. Bueker]

I used to be 60/40 white/red, but have been at 50/50 for several years now. I am eating a lot more pork because we have a great, local source, and so my consumption of Pinot has gone way up.

I love red and white equally in their right, for me, gastronomic places.

However, CT tells me that, since I have been aboard, I have consumed 603 reds, 27 pinks and 294 whites, all categories including sweeties, fortifieds and sparklers. I would consume more whites if Germaine didn't have a preference for reds, partly on alleged health grounds. As it is we tend to reserve whites for fish, although some red and fish pairings can be very good and whites can work very well with veal and chicken.

CT also tells me that my cellar contents are at present much more heavily weighted than my consumption towards reds. That weighting would have been less heavy before I sold off about 140 white sweeties. Does that mean that I should buy more whites or sell off some of my reds ?

My percentage purchases of white wines and rose' wines has increased slightly in 2016 compared to the overall makeup of my wine collection. I show on CellarTracker that my collection consists of 67% red wines, 28% white wines, and almost 5% rose'. My purchases since January 1, 2016 are about 56% red, 33% white and over 10% rose'. Pinot Noir (domestic and French) continues to dominate in the red wines although I have been buying some Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Chateauneuf-du-Pape reds and Italian reds.

[Jenise]

My percentage purchases of white wines and rose' wines has increased slightly in 2016 compared to the overall makeup of my wine collection. I show on CellarTracker that my collection consists of 67% red wines, 28% white wines, and almost 5% rose'. My purchases since January 1, 2016 are about 56% red, 33% white and over 10% rose'. Pinot Noir (domestic and French) continues to dominate in the red wines although I have been buying some Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Chateauneuf-du-Pape reds and Italian reds.

Were you able to do that sort based on date? I haven't noticed that I could fine-tune queries/reports like that.

This question came up earlier this year, up to which point I rarely inventoried whites that would likely get drunk over the next year vs. held on to or appropriated only for special occasions. The very act of realizing that my white consumption was therefore vastly underreported caused me to actually inventory whites so that I can see our consumption history in a fairer light.

Certainly my purchasing since then has been more white than red because I don't need more red wine, I need to drink more of what I already have. Also, due to increased enchantment Chablis in general and with the '14 vintage in France in particular.

Yes, I asked for a report on purchases with a beginning date of January 1, 2016 and then summarized by type (red, white, rose' and also shows how many are fortified or dessert wines or sparkling wines.) You can set a beginning and/or ending purchase date.

[Jenise]

Cool, didn't realize that. Must try!

...we have real winters here where most people drink red as soon as the daytime temps dip under 60F.

Only in the eye of the beholder: what do you drink when the temps go down to minus 15F?!

Butting in..same wines when it is minus 30 here in AB

[Jenise]

...we have real winters here where most people drink red as soon as the daytime temps dip under 60F.

Only in the eye of the beholder: what do you drink when the temps go down to minus 15F?!

I used to live in Alaska--believe me, I understand. (Today in North-Western Washington: 55F and t-shirts.)

My cellar is about 55/45 reds and whites, although the whites include sparkling and dessert wines too. But many of the people I drink wine with on a non wine dinner type situation only drink whites, so I think that skews my white wine consumption. I usually don't bother noting most of my 'basic' wine purchases in CT for these more informal wine consumption occasions, so that skews things as well. But I am only slightly less likely to drink whites in winter, although my rose consumption definitely increases in the summer!