Holiday Wine Guide: The LCBO’s best whites

Beringer 2017 Chardonnay California, $23.95
1 It’s old-school with hefty alcohol and oak, but many love this rich, full-bore style. Generous pineapple, nutmeg, wood smoke and vanilla cream biscuit flavours are set in a full, lush, almost sweet frame. Vintages Essentials 84988

Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc New Zealand, $35.95
2 The most recognized New Zealand sauvignon label delivers its customary complexity—passion fruit, grapefruit, chive, caper and elderflower to name a few aromas. It is tart-edged with intense flavours and acidity. A classic. Vintages Essentials 304469

Bouchard Père & Fils 2017 Pouilly-Fuissé France, $33
3 Pouilly-Fuissé sets the bar for elegant chardonnay. The east-central region of Mâcon begets ample ripeness, with peachy fruit and subtle oak spice and vanillin, while the high limestone soil imbues great finesse and linearity. Pair with festive seafood. LCBO 56580

Henri Bourgeois 2018 Les Baronnes Sancerre France, $31.95
4 The 2018 vintage in the Loire is being called historic. This is riper than usual, with almost peachy fruit amid typical grassy, juniper and nettle-like greenness of sauvignon blanc. It is medium-bodied, rounded yet fresh. Vintages Essentials 542548

Robert Mondavi 2017 Fumé Blanc California, $22.95
5 Fumé blanc is barrel-aged sauvignon blanc, a style that works in warmer regions like California. This is a full-bodied, fleshy winter white with subtropical guava, green pea and fennel notes. A surprise ringer for the turkey feast. Vintages 221877

Tawse 2017 Quarry Road Organic Riesling Niagara, $24.95
6 Niagara’s aging riesling vineyards are turning out world-class wines. This is a pristine, precise, off-dry riesling from a prime organically farmed site atop the Niagara Escarpment. It’s loaded with lime, green apple and wet stone. Very intense, great acid-sugar harmony. LCBO 198853

Domaine Laroche 2018 Saint Martin Chablis France, $26
7 Named for the patron saint of Chablis, this is a lighter-weight, unoaked chardonnay with ripe apple-peach, lemon zest and flinty aromas. Pair with moules frites. LCBO 289124

Willm 2017 Gewurztraminer Reserve Alsace France, $17.95
8 There’s huge value in classic gewürztraminer, the world’s most aromatic white grape. It’s intense, with complex aromas of lychee, rose, grapefruit, ginger, wasabi and fennel. It’s full bodied and a touch sweet, yet lively with classic nutmeg spice. Vintages Essentials 269852