White on a whim

Perversely, after a summer of drinking meaty, dry red wines, when the cool weather set in this week, I suddenly got a hankering for white.

A woman’s body is fickle, as I tell my husband often. One day, you slip into your size-7 jeans and run around the world bending every which way like an Olympic gymnast; the next day, though it’s impossible that you have gained 50 pounds, you awaken feeling like some huge, galumphing creature who is in danger of crushing household animals under her swollen feet. That’s just how it is.

Now, my hormonal fluctuations aside, about that wine:

In deference to my mood, my husband opened a bottle of Ferrari-Carano Fumé Blanc — an easy task, as it’s a screwcap. (He picked up this wine, he said, because it’s made by the same winery that produces Siena, a blend of Sangiovese, Malbec, and Zinfandel, that we dearly love.) The color is lovely, clear and oystery-yellow. The nose is interesting, too: far spicier than you might expect of a wine made of 100% Sauvignon Blanc, with notes of cucumber, lime, pineapple, and some sort of redolent dusty-smelling flower, such as zinnia or marigold.

The flavor follows the same pattern — lots of tropical fruit and grass and floral elements — plus it’s full-bodied and finishes with a little green apple and a long-lasting zing in the corners of the mouth. This likely is due to the fact that about 65% of the grapes that go into this Fumé Blanc are aged in stainless steel casks, while the other 35% are aged in French oak. By selecting and putting the lots together, vintners at Ferrari-Carano create a taste at once earthy and sharp.

The Ferrari Carano Fumé Blanc contains 13.9% alcohol; it retails for around $15. And maybe my biological clock isn’t so far off after all. The crisp, apple-ish snap of this wine even reminds me of fall. So there.