Four Wines Both Red and White Wine Drinkers Will Love

So, you’re a red wine lover choosing a bottle for your girl’s night and you remember your friend only like whites. Or, you are completely dedicated to white wine and white wine only, and you never know which bottles to choose for date night because your partner will only drink reds. This is a very real dilemma we’ve all found ourselves in a time or two, but I’m here to help!

First, it’s important to understand the characteristics that distinguish red and white wines:

• Body: white wines tend to be lighter bodied than red wines

• Tannin: white wines often have very low tannin (if any at all) whereas red wines tend to have medium to high tannin

• Flavors: white wines have flavors like citrus, apple, pear, and pineapple, whereas red wine tends to have dark fruit flavors like cherry, blueberry, or plum

• Serving temperature: white wines are typically served chilled and red wines are most often served at room temperature.

Despite the differences in the characteristics of red and white wine, there are several wines with features on both sides of the fence that will be beloved by red and white wine lovers alike! Here are the four wines that let you meet in the middle when it comes to pleasing both red and white wine lovers:

Rosé

Contrary to popular belief, rosé is not a mixture of red and white wine (check out my blog post on how rosé is made for an explanation of all of the rosé-production methods). The reason rosé is a perfect way to meet in the middle is because its light body and chilled serving temperature appeals to white wine lovers, but its red fruit flavors, like strawberry and cherry appeal to people that prefer red wine.

Blanc de Noirs Sparkling Wine

Blanc de Noirs roughly translates to “white wine of red grapes”. This means that these wines appear white in the glass but are made from red grapes, typically Pinot Noir. To make these wines, red grapes are pressed and the juice ferments separately from the skin so no color is infused from the dark grape skins. Blanc de Noirs work for white wine lovers because they’re light bodied, low tannin, and served chilled, and they’re also adored by red wine lovers because they’re more robust than your average sparkling wine with fuller body and more fruit flavor.

Orange Wine

First, I want to clear up the question I’m most frequently asked about orange wine: it’s not made from oranges, it comes from regular old grapes! Orange wine is classified as a white wine, but it gets its orange hue from contact with the skins and seeds of the white grape during fermentation. Orange wine is typically robust and bold, and has tannin like a red wine and a sourness some equate to fruit beer. Orange wine will be popular among red and white wine drinkers, and your beer-loving friends!

A Light Bodied Red

I know this isn’t exactly meeting in the middle, but hear me out: red wine lovers will like these wines of course because they’re red, and white wine drinkers will also love them because they have many of the features of white wine. Specifically, light reds are delicious when served chilled, they’re light bodied, and have low tannin - that makes them similar to white wines in three of the four major categories! Some light-bodied red wines to try are Gamay (these may also be labeled Beaujolais, as they most commonly come from the Beaujolais region of France), Pinot Noir, and Barbera.

Let me know which wines red and white wine lovers enjoy most in the comments!

Cheers!