Elin McCoy | (TNS) Bloomberg News

Under a bright California sun, I’m sipping a crisp, juicy, salty-tasting white, a vermentino with a very seductive texture. On the Italian island of Sardinia, you’d drink wines made from this often-underrated grape with sea urchin or spit-roasted suckling pig on a perfect beach. You get the idea.

But I’m savoring a new Napa Valley version, the second vintage from well-known winemaker Steve Matthiasson. It’s one of several whites in his lineup, which also includes a light, pretty scheurebe, a grape native to Germany.

Although the most celebrated wines in the valley are still the super-pricey cabernets and cabernet blends you know and maybe love, during several recent visits I’ve encountered dozens of surprising new whites. While some, such as the just-released inaugural chenin blancs from Larkmead and Palisades Canyon, hearken back to Napa’s past before cabernet took over in the 1980s and ’90s, this white trend started about seven years ago with the valley’s ever-growing number of sophisticated, expensive sauvignon blancs.

Napa’s new love affair is part of the wider global momentum for whites in regions famous for grand reds, including France’s Rhône Valley, Italy’s Mt. Etna and many others.

Why? Well, they’re what so many of us want to drink!

A 2023 report from the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OUV), an intergovernmental institution that deals with wine, announced that global thirst for whites and rosés now surpasses demand for reds. And in the U.S., market-research firm NIQ has reported that over the four weeks ended May 18 alone, whites accounted for 50.5% of wine consumption, compared with red at 43.1% and rosé at 6.1%.

Put the shift down to changing taste fashions, the younger generation and climate change. As Florence Quiot, co-president of the Côtes du Rhône section of Rhône Valley trade association Inter Rhône, puts it, “Currently white wines are very well-adapted to the modern taste and way of drinking.”

In other words: While big, bold, tannin-rich reds are great with steak, today people dine on more diverse fare and aim for healthier diets, so they look for fresher, lighter and easier wines to match.

The switch in France has been particularly dramatic. In 2000 reds accounted for 56% of wine production. Twenty-one years later that number had dipped to 33%, while whites rose from 36% of production in 2000 to 50% in 2021.

A recent tasting of Rhône whites in New York showed just how diverse they are—from fresh, lively and lean to rich, powerful and textured. About 12% of the valley’s wine production is white, up from 7% in 2015, but Inter Rhône has stated that the region intends to increase production significantly by the end of the decade.

In Bordeaux’s Médoc—home to first growths such as Château Lafite Rothschild—Château Brane Cantenac released its first white with the 2019 vintage, while Château Margaux added a second white, the 2022 Pavillon Blanc Second Vin, earlier this year. Château Loudenne is planting viognier, chenin blanc and sauvignon gris. Proposed new regulations aim to permit other varieties including albariño, voltis, liliorila and floréal.

In Italy, on Mt. Etna, there were 28% more bianco bottlings in 2022 than a year earlier, according to the Etna wine consortium, and the number of biancos is on track to eventually equal that of its rich, expressive rossos.

Global warming is partly responsible. Most whites are picked early, before the wildfires threaten, and even if grapes are slightly underripe they can still make delicious wines. Etna’s main white grape, carricante, is more resilient and adaptable to extreme weather than the region’s red grapes and keeps its freshness even in super-hot vintages.

You might think China, where red wine has always been king, would be the holdout. Not so fast, says Lenz Moser, an Austrian winemaker who’s spent 20 years there working with Changyu, the country’s biggest wine producer, and makes his own white from cabernet. “A white wine boom started two years ago,” he says. “And when the Chinese jump on something, they really jump.”

Nine New White Wines to Try

NAPA VALLEY, CALIFORNIA

2023 Matthiasson Vermentino Cressida Vineyard ($32)With bracing acidity, notes of citrus and a lip-smacking taste that reminds me of salty sea spray, this mineral-rich white just shouts “refreshing.”

2023 Materra Cunat Family Vineyards Yamabuki Albariño ($38)The inaugural vintage of this light, refreshing, lively albariño from the Oak Knoll district is a taste combo of bright lemons and minerals.

2023 Robert Biale Clementina Greco Bianco ($50)The greco is the great white grape in Italy’s Campania region. This Napa version is deep and rich, with aromas of peaches and jasmine, plus citrus and apricot flavor notes.

2022 Pott Wine 20m3 Viognier ($60)This honeysuckle- and flint-scented white with notes of juicy ripe pears and a lush texture is one of my favorite Napa whites. Harvested early in August to preserve freshness, it was fermented and aged in clay amphoras handmade in Italy.

2023 Larkmead Estate Chenin Blanc ($75) This just-released mineral-and-earth white is bright, pure, complex and round. The grapes come from the winery’s experimental research block of vines in response to a changing climate. Available to the winery’s Solari Membership only.

RHÔNE VALLEY, FRANCE

2022 Domaine Alary L’Estevanas Cairanne Blanc ($23)The organic, family-run domaine makes several whites, including this fresh, floral, bargain-priced, complex blend of clairette and roussanne with ripe peach flavors.

2022 Domaine de la Mordorée La Reine des Bois Lirac ($52)An organic, biodynamic blend of seven varieties—including clairette—it’s fresh and lively with soft but vibrant fruit, herbal spiciness and a kick of lime zest.

2022 M. Chapoutier La Bernardine Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc Heritage ($85)From organically grown grapes, this rich golden-colored blend of clairette and grenache blanc has intense aromas of candied lemons and white peaches. It brims with mineral savor.

MT. ETNA, ITALY

2022 Maugeri Contrada Volpare Etna Bianco Superiore ($35) The Superiore designation is limited to whites from the Milo area on the volcano’s eastern slope. This relatively new producer makes several. This one tastes of wet stones and citrus peel and reminds me of Chablis.

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Elizabeth Wellington | (TNS) The Philadelphia Inquirer

PHILADELPHIA — At five feet, two inches tall, Julia O’Reilly was 190 pounds, prediabetic, and her blood pressure was elevated. Her only real exercise was chasing around her little ones.

She met with her doctors, who started O’Reilly on weekly Ozempic shots. She lost 50 pounds.

But with the weight gone, O’Reilly said, her face sagged, her cheeks hollowed, and dark circles appeared under her eyes.

“The goal was to lose weight,” O’Reilly said, “not to look sunken in and sickly.”

Those who use drugs like Ozempic — either for medical reasons or aesthetic ones — often find the weight loss leads to something now called “Ozempic face.” The result: medical spas are seeing an uptick in requests from clients using medicines like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound.

“I didn’t want to radically change myself,” O’Reilly said. “But I wanted my face to match this better version of me.”

So, after consulting the medical and beauty team at Center City med spa skin care clinic Body+Beauty Lab, she decided fillers were the best route to replace the youthful fullness she says Ozempic robbed from her face.

An old remedy for a new problem

According to a Gallup-up poll, 6% of US adults, or 15.5 million people, report having used medications like Ozempic and Wegovy for weight loss. When they work as hoped, doctors say they curb appetites and cravings. The downside: depleted muscle mass leading to older-looking faces.

“It’s a protein issue,” explained Dr. Marc Neff, medical director at Jefferson Health New Jersey’s Weight Loss Surgery Program. “Protein is important for skin elasticity, muscle tone, and overall skin health. It’s really important that when people start these medications they work with a dietitian to keep protein levels up.”

Doctors who specialize in beauty have been using fillers made from synthetic hyaluronic acid — Restylane, Juvéderm, Sculptra, Belotero — to plump and hydrate aging skin for more than 20 years. When injected into cheekbones, jawlines, and under the eyes, synthetic hyaluronic acid mimics the natural version, Mother Nature’s secret for dewy and fresh looking skin.

The periodic injections have also helped cancer and HIV patients feel confident.

However, over the years, fillers have come under as much scrutiny as weight loss medications. Too much of it can result in a plastic-looking face — see any reality TV star — not to mention bruising, itchiness, and swelling. And then there is the unfair pressure to look young all of the time: the very fact that they exist sends a message to those who chose not to use fillers that aging is not an option, when in truth it’s our only viable choice.

Julia O’Reilly, 35, gets work done on her cheeks by L. Sarah Sidiqi, Aesthetic Nurse Practitioner. Julia lost 50 pounds on Ozempic. She was not happy, so she went to The Body+Beauty Lab, 8th and Chestnut Street, Philadelphia for procedure to “plump” her face. Photograph taken on Monday, July 29, 2024. (Alejandro A. Alvarez/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS)

For patients who have lost weight on the new medications, it can also seem like making an impossible deal with the devilish beauty gods, or an unwinnable game. For many, it’s a game they are willing to play.

“I treat this issue on a weekly basis,” said Sarah Sidiqi, an aesthetic nurse practitioner who sees roughly three “Ozempic face” patients a week at Body+Beauty Lab, compared to once a month before the weight loss drugs became popular. “They all want to restore the facial volume they’ve lost.”

A $4,000 fix

Before Linda Weller, 67, started using Mounjaro, her face, she said, looked pretty good for her age. Yet after losing 60 pounds in a year, it started to “look like a mudslide” — even as her A1C levels dropped and she was able to stop taking her blood pressure medication.

“I didn’t want to put the money out to get a facelift,” Weller said. “So I got my cheeks done.”

“I look and feel great,” Weller said.

Candice Reid, a registered nurse and owner of a Mount Airy Med Spa Nurse Candie, said she’s using more hyaluronic acid injectables, too, especially for clients who have lost weight who are over 40.

In addition to the hyaluronic injectables, Reid injects platelet-rich plasma, or PRP, into clients’ cheeks and jawlines to stimulate collagen growth. Collagen is among one of the most important proteins our body makes to keep skin from sagging. Production of it slows down as we get into our 30s with dramatic drops in the 40s.

“You can’t spot where you are going to lose your weight from,” Reid said, “But you can add volume back to facial areas that have been affected from fat loss.”

On a recent Monday afternoon, O’Reilly was ready to be perked up. Five syringes of Restylane — totaling more than $4,000 — lined the medical counter. After cleaning O’Reilly’s face and numbing it, Sidiqi injected Restylane into each of O’Reilly’s temples for contour and underneath each of her cheekbones to lift them. Sidiqi injected Restylane in O’Reilly’s chin to round it out and then she plumped her lips, but not too much because the overdone pout is out.

Gone were the dark circles. Gone was the unwanted gauntness. In less than an hour, O’Reilly had her younger face back. The results should last about a year.

“I like the way I look,” O’Reilly said. “I’m very pleased.”

Will O’Reilly be back? She’s not sure. Looking young is not cheap. Like the weight-loss drugs, fillers will have to be a permanent part of her beauty regiment if she wants to keep up her look. She’s just 35.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California sued ExxonMobil Monday, alleging it deceived the public for half a century by promising that recycling would address the global plastic pollutions crisis.

Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said that even with recycling programs, less than 5% of plastic is recycled into another plastic product in the U.S. even though the items are labeled as “recyclable.” As a result, landfills and oceans are filled with plastic waste.

ExxonMobil did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bonta, a Democrat, said a coalition of non-profit environmental organizations has filed a similar lawsuit against the oil giant, which is one of the world’s largest producers of plastics. The state’s lawsuit is a separate action. Both suits allege ExxonMobil misled the public through statements and slick marketing campaigns.

Bonta’s office said in a statement that the attorney general hopes to compel ExxonMobil to end its deceptive practices and to secure an abatement fund and civil penalties for the harm.

“For decades, ExxonMobil has been deceiving the public to convince us that plastic recycling could solve the plastic waste and pollution crisis when they clearly knew this wasn’t possible,” Bonta said in a statement.

“ExxonMobil lied to further its record-breaking profits at the expense of our planet and possibly jeopardizing our health,” he said.

On Sunday, California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a ban on all plastic shopping bags at supermarkets.

ExxonMobil knew that plastic is “extremely costly and difficult to eradicate” and that plastic disintegrates into harmful microplastics, yet it promoted recycling as a key solution through news and social media platforms, according to the lawsuit.

At the same time, it ramped up production of plastics, the lawsuit states.

Lately ExxonMobil has been promoting “advanced recycling” — also known as “chemical recycling” — and saying it will better turn old plastics into new products, the lawsuit states.