As alcohol levels creep up in red wines and consumers look to lighter fresher styles. The most famous example is Gigondas, which didn’t even permit whites until 2023; if you had made white wine you had to sell it as basic Côtes du Rhône Blanc. Rioja is another example, many people don’t even know there is white wine available in this most famous of Spain’s red wine regions, but there has been an 80% increase in white production in the last decade with new varieties now permitted, including Verdejo and Garnacha Blanca. In Italy, sales of Italian red wine dropped by over 7% in 2024 while white sales grew by around 5%. The Rizzardi family have been making wine since the 18th century and head winemaker (Count) Giuseppe Rizzardi makes elegant restrained wines.

Source: Irish Examiner April 05, 2026 00:26 UTC