Recommendations
To find your taste in wine, try these recommendations for experimentation based on these standard wines of France.
French Whites
if you like alsace gewurztraminer, try:
- New World and Alto Adige gewurztraminers
- Alsace tokay-pinot gris
- Alsace and Vins de Pays d'Oc dry muscats
- Condrieu, Californian, Australian and Languedoc viogniers
- Argemtine torrontes
if you like bordeaux & entre-deux-mers, try:
- whites from Dordogne and southwest France
- dry whites from the Loire
- Alsace sylvaner
- inexpensive Chilean and South African sauvignon blancs
- mature Hunter Calley semillon
if you like burgundy, try:
- Pouilly-Fuissé, St.-Véran, and Côte Chalonnaise appellations
- Vin de Pays de l'Ardèche, Limoux, Vine de Pays d'Oc chardonnays
- chardonnays from Puglia
- South African chardonnays
- California, Orgeon, and New York State chardonnays
- Yarra Valley, Margaret River, and New Zealand chardonnays
- Australian chardonnays
if you like chablis, try:
- unoaked Australian and New Zealand chardonnays
- Bourgogne Aligoté, Alsace rieslings, Pouilly-Fumé, Sancerre, and Savennières
- Verdicchio dei Castelli de Jesi
- grüner veltliners and albariños
if you like champagne, try:
- California, Australian, and New Zealand sparkling wines made of chardonnay and pinot noir
- Saumur, Blanquette de Limoux, and Crémant de Bourgogne
- Spanish cava
if you like muscadet, try:
- Gros Plant, Sauvignon de Touraine, Chablis, Bourgogne, Aligoté, and Vin de Pays des Côtes de Gascogne
- north Italian whites (such as Soave and pinot grigio), dry Vinho Verde, and German dry wines
if you like muscat de beaumes-de-venise, try:
- Midi cins doux naturels
- Spanish moscatels and PX wines, and Portugal's Moscatel de Setúbal
- Samos from Greece
- Moscato Passito di Pantelleria from Italy
- CCalifornian orange muscat
- South African Constantia
- Australian liqueur muscats
- Australian botrytized rieslings
if you like sancerre & pouilly-fumé, try:
- sauvignons from New Zealand, Chile, South Africa, California, and Austria
- Loire sauvignons and other French wines labeled sauvignon
- Hungarian and northern Italian sauvgnons, and Rueda from Spain
- Austrian grüner veltliner
if you like sauternes, try:
- Ste.-Croix-du-Mont, Cadillac, Loupiac, and Monbazillac
- New World botrytized semillons and rieslings
- sweet wines from Austria and Germany; Hungary's Tokaji Aszú and Eszencia
Other Whites
if you like australian chardonnay, try:
- other New World chardonnays
- Puglia, Salento, and Navarra, and French vins de pays
- Barossa Valley, Chilean, and New Zealand semillons
- Australian marsannes and verdelhos
- South African oaked chenin blanc
if you like frascati & other italian whites, try:
- other Italian whites, baring chardonnays
- whites from southwest France, the Loire, and Alsace
- new-wave German whites
- cheap blends from Chile, Argentina, and South Africa
if you like mosel & other german rieslings, try:
- rieslings from other countries
- Vin de Pays des Côtes de Gascogne and English wines
- muscat from Puglia and Pays d'Oc
- demi-sec or moelleux Loires
if you like new zealand sauvignon blanc, try:
- more expensive sauvignons from Chile and South Africa
- Chablis, Sancerre, and Pouilly-Fumé
- superior Bordeaux and southwest France sauvignons
- Hungarian sauvignons
- rieslings from Australia, Alsace, Austria, and Jurancon
Oaky & Oak-Free
if you like oaky whites, try:
- New World chardonnays and other full-bodied whites
- French whites labeled élevé en fûts de chêne (matured in the oak barrels or fûts neufs (new barrels)
- oaked viura and white Riojas
- Australian oaked semillons
if you like oak-free whites, try:
- aromatic varietals, including sauvignon blanc and riesling
- Loire, Alsace, Mâcon, Bordeaux and Bergerac, Jurancon, non-chardonay vins de pays, Chablis
- German, Italian, and Hungarian whites
French Reds
if you like oak-free whitesbeaugolais
- gamay wines; pinot noirs from Alsace and Sancerre, and Chinon
- German and Hungarian reds
- Bardolino, Valpolicella, dolcetto, and grignolino
- tarrango and lighter grenache wines from Australia
- Argentine bonarda
if you like bordeaux, try:
- Bergerac, Buzet, Côtes de Duras, and Côtes de Saint-Mont
- Vin de Pays d'Oc cabernets and merlots; cheaper Chilean and South African examples
- norht Italian merlots
if you like burgundy, try:
- California and Oregon pinot noirs
- South African (Walker Bay) pinots
- Yarra Valley, Adelaide Hills, and New Zealand pinot noirs
- Chilean pinot noirs from Casablanca
- Alsace and vins de pays pinots
- Austrian, German, and Swis spätburgunder (or blauburgunder)
Other Reds
if you like australian shiraz, try:
- shiraz/syrah from South Africa, New Zealand, California, and Languedoc
- Châteauneuf-du-Pape
- wines from Puglia, and Carignano del Sulcis from Sardinia
- Australian/Spanish grenache
- Californian zinfandel, South African pinotage, and Argentine malbec
if you like barolo, try:
- Piedmont nebbiolos and barberas
- Brunello di Montalcino and Aglianico del Vulture
- Hermitage and other northern Rhône wines
- New World nebbiolos and blends
if you like chianti, try:
- New World sangioveses
- Carmignano, Morellino di Scansano, Parrina, and Rosso di Montalcino
- Rosso Cònero and Rosso Piceno Superiore
if you like chilean cabernet sauvignon, try:
- cabernets and merlots from California, Australia, Washington State, and Argentina
- Vines de Pays d'Oc
- Romanian, South African, and New Zealand cabernets and merlots
- Chilean carmenère, Argentine malbec, merlots from both countries
- Spanish and New World tempranillos
if you like rioja, try:
- Valdepeñas and Navarra reds
- Ribera del Duero
- New World tempranillos
- oaky reds
if you like valpolicella, recioto, & amarone della valpolicella, try:
- Bardolino, Barbera d'Alba or d'Asti, dolcetto, grignolino, Lago di Caldaro, and lagrein
- Chianti and Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
- Californian, Argentine, and Australian sangioveses and bonardas
- Sagrantino Passito and Sagrantion di Montefalco
- French vins doux naturels, and mature northern Rhônes
- Priorato from Spain and top Portuguese reds
Oaky & Oak-Free
if you like oaky reds, try:
- New World shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, malbec, pinotage, and merlot
- Spanish wines labeled crianza, reserva, and gran reserva
- reds from Languedoc and Puglia
if you like oak-free reds, try:
- top burgundy
- Beaujolais and similar wines
- young grenache, tempranillo, and bonarda wines
- Loire pinot noirs
- some merlots
