White Wine
White wines are very complex wines. Not only are they harder to make than red wines - at least if you want to do it right - but the flavor spectrum, and what you can do with them in terms of how they pair with foods, is extremely broad and varied. White wines can be made from either white grapes or red grapes. One easy way to observe this in a finished wine is to look at the wine in a bottle of Blanc de Noir Champagne. This is sparkling wine, made in the Champagne region of France, that is made from the Pinot noir grape - which is red - and yet the finished wine looks like a white wine, just with bubbles in it. Whereas red wines can ferment at a wide variety of temperatures (within reason of course), white wines need careful temperature control during the fermentation process in order to produce the exact flavor profile needed for whichever grape the winemaker is working with. The best white wines come from the Vitis vinifera family of grapes of which Chardonnay, Pinot gris and Riesling are members of. The Universal Life Church Sacramental Chardonnay , Sacramental Pinot Gris and Sacramental Riesling are wonderful examples of Washington State wine and are perfect to be used as altar wine for your ceremonies.
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is quite a chameleon. From around the world come a huge range of Chardonnay styles ranging from the steely and laser-precise wines from the Chablis region of Burgundy, France, to the full-body-butter-and-oak Chardonnays of Napa Valley and Australia. In the middle, fall wines of sublime balance and complexity from fabled regions like Montrachet and Meursault, northern Italy (that's right - surprised?) and the central coast of California. Throughout the Columbia Valley in Washington State, Chardonnay grapes grow in abundance and with high-quality results at harvest every year. Not only are the varied soils and growing conditions fantastic throughout the Columbia Valley for this grape, but the winemakers here in Washington have really learned how to work with Chardonnay over the past fifteen years. The Universal Life Church Sacramental Chardonnay strikes a perfect balance between lushness of classic tropical fruit overtones - bananas and pineapples - balanced with crisp apples and splash of lemon. Just the right touch of oak lends a nice vanilla perfume to the finish without going overboard. This is a great option for your ecclesiastical needs when a red wine just won't do!
Riesling
As good as the Chardonnay in Washington is, Riesling is even better. In fact Washington State is becoming known the world over for growing and producing some of the finest Rieslings anywhere, only surpassed by the historical and grand vineyards of the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer riverine valley of Germany. Riesling is often thought of as sweet and cloying and there is a good reason for that. For over half a century here in the United States producers made really bad wine from this noble grape making wines that were fat and flabby with too much sugar and not enough natural acid to balance out all the beautiful fruit that Riesling is known for. That has all changed! Today, winemakers all over Washington State have learned to control the vines during the growing season, and more importantly, have learned how and when to harvest the grapes properly to gain that perfect balance between fruit and acid. That is what Riesling is all about - balance. Riesling is a naturally fruity wine that actually tastes like grapes, rather than say... mangoes or apricots like so many other grapes tend to showcase. That is why so many Rieslings lend the impression of sweetness - it's because they taste like grapes which are the sweetest of all fruits. When the natural acids are allowed to remain in the fruit, the balance is quite stunning. Try some of our Universal Life Church Sacramental Riesling for your next ceremony and see what a great wine this can be.
Pinot Gris
Pinot gris is one of those grapes, one of those wines, that just seemed to have popped up out of nowhere about a decade ago. In Italy, the same grape is called Pinot Grigio and is France's Alsace region it used to be called Tokaj Pinot Gris, but that name has been shortened to just Pinot Gris as of a few years ago. Our Sacramental Pinot Gris is a round and fruit-forward example that is especially good for ceremonies where there are elderly parishioners wanting to partake in the Eucharist or other religion rites ceremonies.
