IF YOU LIKE X, YOU’LL LIKE Y

Popular wines mean popular problems. For example, take pinot grigio. Please. 

Whose is better; whose, best? Aren’t they all pretty much the same? If the pinot grigio craze started out with those Italian, then whose are all these non-Italians, and are they as good as the originals? And, when the bottom of the bottle flips upside down, what was that huge price for, anyway? Didn’t seem like much of a wine there, all in all. 

For two more white wines, ask many of the same questions of chardonnay or sauvignon blanc. Or cabernet sauvignon, merlot and pinot noir, for reds. There are reasons why these are the more popular wine varieties, although inertia has a lot to do with it. 

If you want to step out and like some wines that are like the standards, I offer some suggestions. You can always go back to same old, same old. 

If you like chardonnay, you’ll like viognier.
Viognier has all the yummies and voluptuous texture that chardonnay has, without chardonnay’s sometimes tedious oak flavors and aromas. It sports gobs of tastes (apricot, white peach, mango, kiwi, ripe pear, to name a few), creaminess, soft acidity and a finish like creme fraiche, at once soft and a tad tangy. None of it needs oak.

Other alternatives: marsanne/rousanne blends; pinot blanc.

If you like pinot grigio, you’ll like albarino.
Actually, the Spaniard albarino is more what Italian pinot grigio should taste like anyway, with hints of peach-y and apple-y aromas, a soft texture on the tongue, ending with a clipped finish from solid acidity. But most pinot grigio has been over-cropped so that all those characteristics are washed away and what’s left is a liquid a wee tastier than Evian.

Other alternatives: Greek assyrtiko; Basque txakoli; Italian arneis, falanghina or fiano di Avellino.

If you like sauvignon blanc, you’ll like torrontes.
If you like sauvignon blanc, you like head-snapping aroma. Here’s a grape, especially when from Argentina, that stands out in a crowd of “glass of white, please.” Its full-on aromas of a mix of white and yellow fruits (pear, apple, lemon, peach), with underlying flavors of melon and lichee, beguile.

Other alternatives: Greek moschofilero.

If you like cabernet sauvignon, you’ll like Rioja.
What is best about cabernet sauvignon is its austerity, its high-toned elegance as it sweeps the palate like the hem of an evening gown passing through a doorway. It isn’t its seemed power or heft (that only shows that it’s been manipulated). Red Rioja does that by blending the grape tempranillo with years in both barrel and bottle before release.

Other alternatives: many Spanish tempranillos; Chinon reds; cabernet franc.

If you like pinot noir, you’ll like Cirò.
Of course, pinot noir is sui generis. What else could combine its enormous perfume, juicy texture and never-ending finish? Well, Cirò, a red from Calabria, Italy’s “toe,” fashioned of the grape gaglioppo, approaches the trifecta.

Other alternatives: Austrian blaufrankisch; older nebbiolo from Piedmont.

If you like merlot, you’ll like grenache.
Merlot is the original “in your face” red; all it wants to do is pleasure your palate with ripe red fruit flavors and aromas, plush texture, can’t-see-‘em tannin and a finish that sets up the tongue for more. Grenache (from France) or garnacha (from Spain) - same grape, different names - does the same, coming from most places in those two countries, with the kicker of a bit more alcohol for the ride.

Other alternatives: Argentine malbec; Chilean carménère or syrah; Italian ripasso from Valpolicella.