10 Best Dry White Wines Good Enough to Drink and Cook With

Dry white wines are among the most versatile options to enjoy with food, both in terms of cooking with it and serving as a pairing partner. The range of styles covers some serious territory, and whether you’re looking for a crisp, fruit-forward wine to perk up a butter-based sauce or something on the richer, creamier end of the spectrum, there are plenty to choose from.

To help narrow it down, here is a list of ten great dry white wines that offer excellent value given the quality of the liquid in the bottle. The first five are perfect for cooking, by which we mean they’re priced low enough that you can use them to deglaze a pan or amp up a sauce without having to think twice, but also delicious enough that you’ll be more than happy to finish the bottle alongside that dish…or even while cooking it. (Remember: Never cook with wine that you wouldn’t be happy drinking on its own — doing otherwise is a surefire way to ruin a meal.)

The second group features wines that are fantastic on their own, but priced high enough that you probably won’t want to pour any out while cooking. All ten share one very important thing in common: They’re phenomenal wines, no matter how you enjoy them.

2021 Cormorant Preston Vineyard Grenache Blanc - Marsanne

Bringing together 64% Grenache Blanc and the rest Marsanne, both grown in the same vineyard in the Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma County and fermented with indigenous yeasts, this is a wine whose spice, preserved lemon, and autumn orchard fruit notes make it particularly friendly alongside saltier, earthier dishes like veal saltimbocca or piccata, as well as grilled whole fish.

2021 Inama Carbonare Soave Classico

For just over $20 this wine is a steal. It over-delivers with exuberance, the mineral and herbal notes (tarragon, shiso) finding fleshiness in flavors of lemon, stone fruit, and a subtle finishing lift of springtime flowers. 

2022 Tornatore Etna Bianco

For a little more than $25, this delicious wine offers a taste of what makes the whites (and reds!) of Etna so exciting right now: It’s produced entirely from Carricante grown at more than 2,000 feet above sea level on soils of volcanic origin, and shines with green papaya, melon pith, lime leaf, and mineral. 

2021 Viña Leyda Sauvignon Blanc Reserva 

Laser-like acidity frames notes of grapefruit and bell pepper in this Chilean gem. There’s a mineral, lemon- and lime-pith core as well, making this particularly well-suited for being used as the base for a shrimp scampi. It’s a lot of wine for under $16.

2022 Xanadu “Circa 77” Sauvignon Blanc - Semillon

Plenty of hay and jalapeño notes work as counterpoints to lime, lemon pith, cracked pepper, and slate in this Margaret River white wine. Between the 40% Semillon and the fact that some of it was fermented in barrel, it boasts a subtle creaminess that lends each sip weight without sapping its energy. It’ll be excellent with steamed clams, both in the sauce and sipped alongside them.

2021 Andanté Aligoté

This is estate-grown in the Van Duzer Corridor AVA of Oregon’s Willamette Valley, and shimmers with minerals, hard pears, and apricots, all of which are joined by flavors reminiscent of lentils and a suggestion of blanched almonds. It’s bone dry, vibrant, and creamy on the finish, which carries herbal tea, lemon pith, and springtime flowers.

2021 Ashes & Diamonds Blanc No. 7

Barrel-fermented Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon are rich and structured with wonderful mineral bones in this Napa Valley wine of breadth and propulsion. White tea, honeycomb, jasmine, almonds, honeydew, and hints of spice promise another several years of evolution in the cellar.

2021 Kosta Browne One-Sixteen Chardonnay

There is such precision and energy to this Russian River Valley Chardonnay, as well as weight and elegance. Lemon zest, ginger, caramel-topped flan, and gunpowder are all kissed with cinnamon and honeycomb.

2021 Lail “Georgia” Sauvignon Blanc

Estate-grown in Yountville on a dry-farmed, three-acre vineyard, this barrel-fermented and -aged white wine is full of character, richness, and energy. Flavors of kiwi, green and yellow apples, floral notes, and slate-like minerality thrum through this cellar-worthy wine. Whether you drink it now or in several years’ time, it’s a joy.

2018 The Glories No. 1

Fascinatingly savory, with beeswax, honeycomb, shiso, salted pineapple, passionfruit, and preserved lemon. It’s a unique and delicious blend of Oregon Chardonnay and California Roussanne from Maggie Harrison, one in which saline notes roll through the long finish and are joined by lemon pith, golden chanterelles, and walnuts.