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Photography by Johnny Von Einem

There’s much more to white wine than we’ve been led to expect.

The approach to white winemaking is becoming ever more relaxed, particularly amongst the artisans we embrace, who channel more creative and intuitive flare than ever before.

A winemaker’s use of whole bunches has become more commonplace – with the fear of using grape skins and stems subsiding, allowing for the nuanced aromas and textures they impart, even if only used a touch.

The hard-line application of science, often used to wrangle wine and control any possible outcome, is now more selectively applied. Rather than sterilisation, the wines are allowed to exhibit the array of naturally occurring delicacies many of our established white berries want to share with us.

Even the consumer’s obsession with appearance – the limiting acceptance of only liquids with an absolute and crystalline degree of clarity – has softened.

What we’ve observed and have gleefully highlighted in the bottles we’ve selected below are wines we would coin as ‘old-world style with a new-world steez’.

These are white wines that more closely resemble styles made from generations past. Wines mindfully made from known grape varieties – and, more importantly, for the most part mindfully grown – using all manner of technique at the craft’s disposal.

On a similar but opposing tip to our selections from last week, chill these wines down, then leave them out of the fridge for 10 minutes.

That bone-chilling, beer-fridge temperature we’re accustomed to is exactly that: a temperature for beers. There are subtleties at play in these wines you won’t want to miss, and are well worth the wait for a slightly warmer temperature.

Read the full article here.