Jim wrote about Sauvignon Blanc last month, so I’m going to follow in the same vein. When you’re feeling adventurous (aren’t we all?) and want to try something different from the wine store for a summer day, here are some thoughts on white wines that are not Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, or Pinot Grigio. There are plenty of tasty bottles out there.
For starters, I suggest going to look for an Albarino. This is an ancient grape, long grown only in the North-West of Spain, Galicia, and adjacent areas of Portugal. Galicia is the source of a variety of excellent seafood, including fish, shrimps, and shellfish of all kinds. And Albarino pairs perfectly with seafood. It has stone fruit and citrus flavors, acidity, and minerality. Drink it young. Some is now grown outside Galicia, but no other region has yet to rival the Spanish versions. Don’t overchill it; it tastes best served around 55° to 60° F. There’s a similar Portuguese grape, Alvarinho, which is just as good.
Having originated in the Bordeaux and Loire regions of France and having been grown there since at least the 16th century, Sauvignon Blanc today is cultivated and enjoyed throughout the world. It is a green-skinned grape that does best in cooler climates where nights are cool and days are sunny. While the exact number of white wine varietals is a subject of debate, many wine authorities would agree there are at least 600, with Sauvignon Blanc ranking as one of the most widely planted and produced. In fact, of all commercially planted grapes, both red and white, Sauvignon Blanc ranked 7th or 8th during recent years in terms of vineyard acres.
Sauvignon Blanc is a global palate-pleaser, offering a range of styles. It appears on almost all restaurant wine lists, is widely available at wine shops and is frequently offered as a wine choice at social and business functions, clubs and cocktail parties. Part of this likely has to do with price, as you can find a good bottle of Sauvignon Blanc priced from $15 to $25, all the way up to higher-priced offerings running over $60. But in my opinion, the more important factor in the success and love of Sauvignon Blanc is its stylistic diversity. Here are just three examples.
Hey, you’d be upset, too, if you were sunning yourself on a nice California vine when off in the distance you saw a big black cloud of smoke, or worse – a wildfire — heading your way.
With increases in both frequency and severity of wildfires, California winemakers have at least three very big challenges to contend with.
First, they must figure out ways to mitigate the risk of fire and smoke damage to their grapes. It’s now becoming commonplace for wineries to install sprinklers, fire hydrants, and water storage areas on their property. Some have gone so far as buying sheep to eat the underbrush that contributes to fire spread; sheep manure also helps, as it turns out, to produce a more resilient soil.
Second, as a result of these – and other – added costs, winemaking has become more expensive. One Paso Robles winemaker reported that his property insurance costs have increased by more than 40% in the last five years, while the amount of coverage has declined by almost 80%. There are reasons why we pay $20 for a glass of good wine these days.
And third, winemakers have had to contend with the effects of smoke on their grapes. It turns out that smoke from wildfires contains lots of phenol compounds that can penetrate a grape’s skin and result in the wine having a “smoky” or even “ashtray” flavor.
In 2020, the worst year so far for fires in California vineyards, some winemakers simply gave up and threw out most or all of that year’s vintage. Others found other uses for their grapes – turned them into vinegar, for example, or distilled them into brandy, which was aged in oak barrels. And still other winemakers expanded their wine tasting efforts and learned, to their great surprise, that some customers really liked that ashtray taste.
Thankfully, there are efforts underway to better understand how smoke affects grapes and how to mitigate those effects. For starters, red wine is much more prone to developing that smoky taste because the skins of the grapes used for red wine are left on during the winemaking process. And there are new devices that can detect the presence of, and even remove, the phenol compounds most likely to disturb the wine’s natural flavors.
For now, however, perhaps the best we can do is come up with a better adjective for smoke-tainted wine than “ashtray.”
In our coastal waters, rivers and creeks, it is critical to familiarize oneself with local knowledge about the waterway and its conditions before setting out on any boat or kayak trip. Some of us remember the case of two men fishing in a kayak 30 yards from the Seabrook shore who were swept out to sea by a strong current in 2007. Winds were 25 knots and the seas were four to six feet. The men were not wearing lifejackets when they departed. One was rescued by the coast guard five miles east of Fripp Island after an 18-hour search . The other’s body was recovered 20 miles away, two weeks later. Learning to swim is little defense in these situations.
There is an old sailing adage that says “the sea is no place for the inexperienced.” This is true for our coastal waters too. Beachgoers often underestimate the potential dangers associated with ocean swimming, and water safety at the beach is a serious concern. Keep in mind that children who can swim in a pool may not be able to swim in the turmoil of the surf. What are potential dangers at the beach?
What could be more fun than a big pool party on a bright summer day?
Although there are no reliable statistics for pool party drownings, sadly they occur and are entirely preventable. Residential pools are the site of the majority of drownings in young children.
On August 4, 2024, two nine year olds drowned in separate pool parties in Chattanooga, TN. In an article titled “Killer Parties” published by Aquatics International in 2024, several important risk factors for children drowning at these events are enumerated.
Do you know that drowning is the leading cause of death among children in the United States? The statistics are alarming. To learn about them, click here.
How do you quickly recognize that someone is drowning?
We have all seen movies that depict drowning in dramatic scenes of screaming, waving, and yelling for help, but this isn’t how it usually happens. Drowning often occurs silently and can be difficult to detect. According to Divers Alert Network, “The most common appearance of someone who is drowning is that they don’t look like they are drowning.”
Initially, some swimmers may briefly demonstrate aquatic distress. For a while, they might be able to yell and wave that they are in trouble, and they can still grab a life ring or float. What are the signs someone is in danger of drowning?
Water safety guidelines for children are essential to prevent drowning, which is a leading cause of injury and death among young kids. Water safety for children is not just about swimming lessons. It’s about creating layers of protection and anticipating the presence of hazards. Formal swim lessons can significantly reduce drowning risk, but they do not replace vigilant oversight.
In our “Be Water Wise” program, we teach the first graders several safety points.
For the past 16 years, Waterproof, Inc. and its dedicated local volunteers have been teaching children from Johns Island about water safety and providing them with swimming lessons. From May 11 – 21, 2026, we taught how to “Be Water Wise” to 70 first grade students from Angel Oak Elementary School at the Lake House outdoor pool. According to US National Water Safety Action Plan (USNWSAP), teaching swimming to children ages 6-10 years reduces their risk of drowning by 96%.
Learning about water safety isn’t just for children. Anywhere there is water there is risk. Waterproof, Inc. wants everyone to be water wise since we live on a barrier island that is surrounded by water and contains lakes, ponds, and pools within it. During this week, Tidelines will feature a series of five articles addressing why and how to stay safe in and near water as part of our Water Safety Awareness Week.
Our swimming pools and beaches are fun places. Let’s all work on making them safe. Look for a new article each day this week on being water wise!
Finding fun quotations about wine is easy, like looking for hay in a haystack. Wineries have them on their notice boards. Cocktail napkins with wine witticisms abound. On a more serious note, many classic authors have also written about wine. Let’s start with William Shakespeare (“sack” corresponds to modern sherry):
“Wine cheers the sad, revives the old, inspires the young and makes weariness forget his toil.” (Merry Wives of Windsor)
“If I had a thousand sons, the first human principle I would teach them should be, to forswear thin potations and to addict themselves to sack.” (Henry IV)
“Good company, good wine, good welcome, can make good people.” (Henry VIII)
“A man cannot make him laugh – but that’s no marvel; he drinks no wine.” (Henry IV)
“What three things does drink especially provoke? Lechery, sir, it provokes, and unprovokes; it provokes the desire, but it takes away the performance.” (Macbeth)
Shakespeare was not alone in generating some great quotations about wine, and featuring characters who loved their wine. Here are quotes from some other great authors; it’s no accident that several are French, since the French may have had the most practice at drinking wine:
“Ah, bouteille, ma vie, pourquoi vous videz-vous?” (Moliere) Translated “Oh bottle, my life, why do you empty yourself?”
“One should always be drunk. That’s all that matters .. But with what? With wine, with poetry, or with virtue, as you choose. But get drunk.” (Charles Baudelaire)
“In vino, veritas.” (Pliny the Elder). Translation: “In wine, there is truth.”
“La vie est trop court pour boire du mauvais vin.” (French proverb). Translation “Life is too short to drink bad wine.” The Wine Guys say “Amen”
“Wine is bottled poetry.” (Robert Louis Stevenson)
“Age is just a number. It’s totally irrelevant unless, of course, you happen to be a bottle of wine.” (Joan Collins)
Other famous people also needed to make their opinions on wine heard:
While Burgundy, France is the home of the Pinot Noir grape and the producer of truly world-class Pinot Noirs, the U.S. is a not too distant second in terms of production. After the 2004 movie “Sideways” was released (which celebrated Pinot Noir wines), interest in Pinot Noir wine took off in the United States. Vineyard acreage planted with Pinot Noir increased dramatically and new producers developed vineyards in California and the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Today, Pinot Noir sales are second only to Cabernet Sauvignon.
Pinot Noir is a difficult grape to grow successfully. It’s thin-skinned and very sensitive to temperature, soil and disease. The vines produce tightly packed grape clusters which make it susceptible to various forms of disease and rot. It’s a cool climate grape and doesn’t do well in warmer climates. In California, Sonoma County and the Russian River Valley are two of the top producing areas as is the Willamette Valley in Oregon where nights are cooler and valley fog often develops.
An experienced and knowledgeable wine maker is critical for making good Pinot Noir wine. While that may apply to making any good wine, Pinot Noir ripens unevenly and generally requires hand-harvesting and gentle handling. Vinification processes can vary but if poorly managed, the wine can have a bitter edge or simply be flat.
We’ll be hearing a lot about Thomas Jefferson this year, it being the country’s 250th birthday and all, and Jefferson of course had a rather large role in all of that.
But at least as important was Jefferson’s role in being sure the new country he helped to create had an appreciation for good wine. It is, he said, “a necessity of life for me.” That is right up there with “all men are created equal.”
Jefferson’s appreciation for wine blossomed during his tenure as Minister of France in the early 1780s. An avid note taker, Jefferson kept a record of his visits to a host of wine regions in Europe, developing a special fondness for Burgundy and Bordeaux. (One of his favorite wineries was Chateau Haut-Brion, proving he was no slouch.)
On his return to the U.S., Jefferson began applying what he learned in France to the grounds surrounding his home, Monticello. He had studied soil, climate and different grape varietals, noting how different regions produced distinct styles of wines. He eventually gave a parcel of his land to an Italian winemaker and thus fathered one of the first commercial wineries in the U.S.
