This $10 chardonnay blend is as refreshing as pinot grigio

Winemakers are less likely to combine grapes of more than one variety when producing white wines as compared to reds, which helps explain why red blends outnumber white blends by at least 20 to 1 in most stores.

But it’s not because white wines are any less well suited to tasting terrific in a blend or because wine drinkers aren’t open to tasting them. The reason why these strategies are more often employed in red winemaking than white has more to do with prosaic practicality than artistic expression. There are simply fewer natural opportunities for combining different lots of wines made from different grapes in the white winemaking process as well as less maturation time before bottling during which their flavors can marry in a harmonious way.

Combining grapes that have different strengths and weaknesses makes perfect sense and works quite well when thoughtfully executed. This flavorful and refreshing semisweet white from California proves the point, getting some of chardonnay’s plush mouthfeel into the same bottle with the floral aromatics of viognier and the crisp apple refreshment of pinot grigio — what’s not to like?

White blends barely existed in California before the innovation of Conundrum by the visionary vintner Chuck Wagner of Caymus Vineyards fame in the 1990s. That decadent white blend artfully combined the opulent toastiness of barrel-fermented chardonnay with the exotic perfume of gewürztraminer and a grab bag of other ingredients in a semisweet white wine that tasted like peach cobbler meets crème brûlée. This modern blend from Apothic is a riff on this inspiration, but sticks to unoaked ingredients at a more affordable price point to produce something quite similar in its peachy flavors, but brighter and cleaner in the finish with less oaky caramelization. Think peaches and cream topped with lychee sorbet and try it with foods that feature a sweet or spicy sauce for best results.

$11.59; 12.5% alcohol

PLCB Item #5061

Sale price through April 2 — regularly $14.59

Also available at:

Canal’s Liquors in Pennsauken, N.J. — $9.31

Kreston Wine & Spirits in Wilmington — $9.90

Canal’s Bottlestop in Marlton, N.J. — $9.96