There's a new seafood tapas place in your neighbourhood, and it's bring-your-own-wine. Your new friends invite you for a night at the restaurant's beautiful terrasse, and they ask you to be in charge of drinks — white wine, of course, to pair with the fish. You agree, these friends seem cool and smart and you want to impress them with your pairing abilities… despite your limited budget.
Menu in hand, you're looking through tasting guides and wine blogs hunting for the perfect, versatile white with enough character to stand up against the small but mighty plates at the tapas place — that's also pretty cheap. Thankfully, you've landed on this article, a simple guide to the SAQ's most well-reviewed white wines under $20 with pairing notes alongside each one.
Remember that, in general, drier whites go well with vegetables and white fish, while sweeter whites pair better with cured meats and intense cheeses. With this knowledge in hand, go forth and conquer the world of wines, one budget buy at a time.
Pfaff Pinot Gris Alsace
A bottle of Pfaff Pinot Gris Alsace.
Price: $18.25
Rating: 4.5/5
Pairing Notes: A Pinot Gris from Alsace tends to be more full-bodied and is often best served with fattier seafood like salmon and oyster, as well as cheeses and meats like bacon, according to drinkandpair.com. This wine has notes of melon, barley sugar and flowers, according to the SAQ.
Domaine Papagiannakos Savatiano Markopoulo 2022
A bottle of Domaine Papagiannakos Savatiano Markopoulo 2022.
Price: $18.35
Rating: 4.6/5
Pairing Notes: Wines made with the Greek Savatiano grape variety tend to do well with heavily marinated meats, according to Madeline Puckette from Wine Folly, a James Beard award-winning wine communicator. The SAQ says this wine is fresh, crisp and versatile, pairing with raw fish as well as on its own as an aperitif.
Marquis de Jouennes Bourgogne Aligoté
A bottle of Marquis de Jouennes Bourgogne Aligoté.
Price: $18.55
Rating: 4.3/5
Pairing Notes: Puckette notes this wine type's "palate-cleansing acidity," recommending that it be paired with lighter salads and soups or creamy cow's milk cheeses. The Marquis de Jouennes bottle specifically has notes of citrus, white fruit and Granny Smith apple.
Stoneleigh Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough
A bottle of Stoneleigh Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough.
Price: $18.75
Rating: 4.8/5
Pairing Notes: Named like a particularly white southern American child, this sauvignon blanc would do well alongside herb-forward meals with chicken or fish, as well as feta or goat cheeses, according to Wine Folly. This New Zealand wine features notes of grapefruit, passion fruit and minerality.
Minerality, by the way, is a complex term referring broadly to a certain rocky taste and texture without the same alive qualities as would be captured by the term "earthy." It doesn't have a fully agreed-upon definition even among wine experts, so think of it as a gritty, chalky, wet stone type of vibe.
Willm Riesling Réserve
A bottle of Willm Riesling Réserve.
Price: $18.85
Rating: 4.7/5
Pairing Notes: This very dry and acidic riesling would pair well with cured and raw fish, fresh shellfish and creamy sauces. It also suffers from a minerality, and I say suffers because I still don't actually get whether tasting like dead rocks is a good thing. But if you tell your friends at dinner that the wine has "mineral notes" or "a certain minerality," maybe you'll sound smart.
Or pretentious. It's a fine line.
Otazu Chardonnay Navarra 2022
A bottle of Otazu Chardonnay Navarra 2022.
Price: $18.95
Rating: 4.5/5
Pairing Notes: This medium-bodied, dry and acidic Chardonnay would do well alongside creamier dishes and seafood. It has aromas of banana, ripe apple and citrus zest as well as "vegetal notes." This means the wine tastes and/or smells a little bit like plants, which is a good thing in limited quantities but is seen as a negative characteristic if it's the predominant flavour in a wine, according to Wine Spectator's helpful glossary.
Les Tètes Tète Blanche
A bottle of Les Tètes Tète Blanche.
Price: $19.50
Rating: 4.3/5
Pairing Notes: This blended white wine is dry with a present but not intense acidity, lending it to pair well with ceviche and other light, raw seafood dishes. It's a mix of Sauvignon Blanc, Roussanne and Chenin wines, with notes of pear, clementine and white flowers.
Albert Bichot Bourgogne Aligoté
A bottle of Albert Bichot Bourgogne Aligoté.
Price: $19.70
Rating: 4.6/5
Pairing Notes: Like the other Bourgogne Aligoté on this list, Albert Bichot's dry, acidic variety would pair well with gooey cheese and light salads. It's yet another mineral-y drink with notes of white flowers and Granny Smith apples, making it best suited for fresh, citrusy meals and white fish.
Barefoot Pinot Grigio
A bottle of pinot grigio.
Price: $12.75
Rating: 4.2/5
Pairing Notes: A light wine, Pinot Grigio pairs well with light food, according to Unravelling Wine. Fresh flavours like herbs, green salads and vegetables will do well with this bottle, as well as lighter meats like chicken and turkey or seafood.
Bacalhôa Catarina 2021
A bottle of Bacalhoa wine
Price: $14.50
Rating: 4.4/5
Pairing Notes: Colio Winery says this fruity, fresh wine would pair nicely with "soups and fish dishes, as well as light meat or slightly more complex dishes as it has a full-bodied structure and complex aromas," noting that it would also do well with Azeitão, a Portuguese cheese.
Adega de Penalva Dão 2022
A bottle of Portuguese white wine.
Price: $13.05
Rating: 4.4/5
Pairing Notes: The SAQ notes that this wine is floral and aromatic, with notes of muscat grapes. It would pair well with "Asian cuisine" and as an aperitif.
Altolandon Enrosado Manchuela 2022
A bottle of Enrosado orange wine.
Price: $17.45
Rating: 4.4/5
Pairing Notes: If none of these traditional whites does it for you, try a more avant-garde orange wine. With notes of green apple, mandarin orange and wild strawberry, this wine might just catch your guests off guard, introducing them to a newer trend in wine-making. Orange wines go well with spiced meats like lamb, roasted or caramelized vegetables, and sharper cheeses, according to Matching Food and Wine.
Honestly, it's my firm belief that the best wine drinkers are those who can enjoy a $50 Riesling just as much as a $13 Nicolas Laloux Sangria White from Metro, which each have their time and place. I hope you now feel semi-qualified to pick your own white wines at the store, and that I've imparted some internet-sourced wisdom to your next bargain wine journey.
As you pick your favourite wine from this list to bring to that tapas place, remember that at the end of the day, you're spending time with people you love, and once the drinking gets started, nobody will remember that the wine tasted minerally or vegetal or any of that.
Instead, you'll remember the conversations and the experience of sharing a good meal together, which is nearly priceless (or at least worth $20).
Unless your friends are snooty, in which case you'll need some extra help from Wine Folly for all future interactions with these people.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.
