RHYS PENDER, MW Rhys is a Master of Wine who combines his time writing, judging, teaching, consulting and dirtying his boots at his Little Farm Winery. Named by Western Living as a “Top 40 Foodie Under 40” in Western Canada, Rhys also runs Wine Plus+, a wine school, and judges wine competitions nationally and internationally.
Lemon Many white wines have a pleasant, fresh-looking lemon colour. White grapes are often grown in a cool or moderate climate, and when they are pressed to separate the juice from their skins soon after arriving at the winery, the resulting wines typically have these lemon hues. As well, they often involve a protective winemaking process, meaning they are made in stainless- steel tanks and don’t see much oxygen or oak aging before being bottled. They are typically vibrant, crisp and fruity tasting and come from a range of grape varieties from the pale Muscadet, through more medium lemon versions of Sauvignon Blanc, young Riesling and many Italian whites.
MARIA BONITA VINHO VERDE Portugal $19.99 185986 A deep lemon colour, this complex dry white has flavours of preserved lemon, lime, baked apple, apple blossom, chalk, wet stones and peach, with a long mineral finish.
Gold Some white wines have a more golden hue, and this colouration can develop in a few ways. Sunny, hot climates can impart a gold tone, as can certain white grape varieties whose skins are darker or more bronze. White wine aged in oak barrels, where tiny amounts of oxygen permeate the wood, often turns a deeper golden colour. Finally, even lemon-coloured white wines will turn deeper gold with a few years maturing in the bottle. Golden-coloured whites will often be fuller in body, have riper fruit flavours, and may also show signs of oak aging or a nutty complexity from bottle maturation.
TANIA & VINCENT CARÊME TERRE BRÛLÉE CHENIN BLANC South Africa $23.99 182934 This pale gold, full- bodied Chenin Blanc has flavours of peach, pineapple, quince, honey and nuts from
the warm, sunny Swartland region of South Africa.
GÉRARD BERTRAND ORANGE GOLD LANGUEDOC ROUSSILLON France $31.99 456710 This orange-coloured wine has intense aromas of exotic tea leaves, baking spice, honey and apricot, with a full body, light zesty tannic grip and long finish.
Orange Orange is the newest, oldest wine colour. Orange-coloured wines simply come from treating white grapes like red ones; that is, fermenting and aging the skins and juice together. Back in ancient winemaking days before destemmers and wine presses, all white wines would have been made this way, but the trend is only recently starting to re-emerge. Expect skin-contact orange wines to have more body than most whites, often a little citrus-zest tannic grip, and complex flavours and aromas of tea leaves, spices and umami notes.
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