Whether it’s their ability to pair with a wide range of cuisines, a growing preference for more acid and lower alcohol content (or Taylor Swift’s influence), white wine has been flying off store shelves in recent years.
Sales data from Nielsen IQ has found that white wine sales have been outperforming red, up to 79.9 million cases last year, compared to 72.9 for reds.
In red-ruled regions, like Piedmont, the Rhône Valley, parts of Spain and beyond, wineries have been increasingly turning their attention toward white grapes such as Arneis, Clairette and Verdejo.
This is happening stateside, too. In California Cabernet country, Napa Valley, plantings of the Sauvignon Blanc are up 40% since 2000. Other white varietals, like Chenin Blanc, are following suit.
While many in this new crop of whites won’t qualify as bargain Tuesday night bottles, there are plenty of affordable American white wines that do. These are the bottles that made it to Wine Enthusiast’s 2024 Best Buys list of top-rated wines under $20.
“How is this even possible, you ask?” says Wine Enthusiast Writer at Large Tonya Pitts, who reviews wine from Northern California and other U.S. regions. “The reasoning is that we are fortunate enough to live in an age of sustainability, accountability and producers wanting to create the best possible products. It is evident when you meet the people behind the brands.”
An abundance of high-quality grapes across the United States, Pitts says, “has created a unique opportunity for value-driven wines to be
This Article was originally published on Wine Enthusiast
