The perfect spring chicken is cooked in white wine

Spring flowers in Michael David Winery's gardens.

Wine
stirs the spring, happiness
bursts through the earth like a plant…
—Pablo Neruda

One month into spring in 2025—finally, nights are less chilly, days are warmer, and the sun is up until past 7:30!

‘Tis also the season of transition at our tables. Our taste for red wines goes from heavier reds, such as Cabernet Sauvignon or Petite Sirah, to lighter reds such as Grenache, Cinsaut, Mission or easy drinking Zinfandels. Slowly but surely, we also find ourselves reaching for more cool, refreshing white wines, or maybe rosés.

White wine toast at Wine & Roses Hotel. Jill Means Design.

In the kitchen, the mood also changes—from red meats to white meats, from cooked vegetables to salads. Here, then, is an idea for an ideal transitional dish: Coq au vin blanc ("chicken with white wine"), a classic French inspired stew of chicken, onions and mushrooms. 

Traditional coq au vin is cooked in red wines. In the spring, though, I prefer this style of chicken stew cooked in lighter white wines.

Lodi "coq."

The good thing about that? Coq au vin blanc not only goes great with white wine, it is extremely versatile with almost any type of white wine. There is, simply, no one white wine that makes a “best” match. 

For instance, when matched with Lodi grown white wines finished with a little bit of residual sugar, I have found that the sweetness imparted by the onions in dish’s broth becomes all the more delicious with whatever sweetness there is in the complimenting wine.

Three fine examples fruit-driven Lodi whites on the market today:

• The ever-so-slightly sweet, flowery, honeysuckle and lemon verbena nuanced Burlington Chandler Lodi “Lively White" Verdelho ($24), made from the native Portuguese grape Verdelho.
• The ever-popular, tropical scented, medium sweet Ironstone Vineyards Lodi "Obsession" ($16), made from an exotically scented grape called Symphony (a 1940s crossing of Muscat and Grenache gris).
• Also made from Symphony, the Michael David Winery Lodi Symphony ($22) is lightly sweet, light as a feather and as tropical as a Hawaiian day.

Symphony grapes in Lodi's Ironstone Vineyards.

Which makes white wines with fruity aromas, but tasting pretty much dry on the palate, possibly even better. Because the appellation’s summers balance cool nights with sun soaked, cloudless days, Lodi excels in wines that are flush with fruit, even when finished dry as a bone. Three examples crafted in light, pure styles geared towards contemporary tastes:

• The juicy, mouth-wateringly fresh and lively Klinker Brick Lodi Grenache Blanc ($20).
• The citrus/orange-fresh and succulent Bokisch Vineyards “Miravet” Borden Ranch-Lodi Verdejo ($29).
• The intensely floral, herbes de Provence-nuanced Acquiesce Winery Mokelumne River-Lodi Viognier ($44).

Although there are more, much more dry yet fruit driven whites to choose from (see our recent post, A current list of over 100 wines that celebrate Lodi’s sense of place), let us drill down further on ideal sensory wine qualities for chicken cooked in white wine. 

Coq au vin blanc. thegirllovestoeat.com.

While chicken cooked in white wine—especially the white wine you are drinking (necessitating the purchase of two bottles, one to sip, one to go into the pot)—lends itself to a variety of varietals or blends, you could say that the ideal choices veer towards a certain earthiness, stoniness or minerality (not just fruitiness): Sensory qualities that are all the better to complement the earthy tastes imparted by mushrooms, bacon and garlic in this classic French stew. Three near-perfect, Lodi grown examples:

• The stony dry yet stone fruit scented Peltier Winery Lodi Vermentino ($18).
• The lemony crisp, minerally yet flowery scented LangeTwins Family Winery Mokelumne River-Lodi Grüner Veltliner ($27).
• The ultra-light, lemon-fresh, mineral/tart driven Lorenza Wine Lodi Picpoul Blanc ($30).

Without further ado, the recipe for this quintessential springtime dish:

Rihana’s Coq au Vin Blanc

8 pieces chicken thighs (mostly) and legs (or one 5 lb. chicken, cut in serving pieces)
24-30 pearl onions
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
6 oz. bacon strips or slab, squared or cubed
8 oz. button mushrooms, quartered
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
3/4-cup white flour
1 bottle (750 ML) white wine (preferably the same or similar to what you are drinking)
1 medium yellow onion, quartered
2 stalks celery, quartered
2 medium carrots, quartered
3 cloves garlic, crushed
6-8 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
2 cups chicken stock or broth

Cut off root end of each pearl onion and make an “x” with knife in its place. Bring 2-3 cups water to boil and drop in the onions for 1 minute. Remove onions from pot, allow to cool, and peel (onions should slide right out of skin). Set aside.

Blanch bacon briefly in boiling water; drain, and dice or cube. Fry to render fat; remove meat and set aside, and save fat for frying.

Garlic being cured on wine barrel.

Sprinkle chicken pieces on all sides with salt and ground pepper. Place chicken pieces, a few at a time, into a large (1-2 gallon) sealable plastic bag along with flour; shake to coat chicken completely. Remove chicken from bag, and fry in bacon fat, just until crust is crisp. Set chicken pieces aside.

In same pan, add pearl onions to fat, sprinkle with salt and pepper, sautéing until lightly brown (approximately 8-10 minutes). Remove onions from pan and set aside. Transfer chicken into a 7-8 quart enameled cast (such as Le Creuset) or cast iron Dutch oven.

Add mushrooms to the same 12 inch sauté pan, adding 1 tbsp. butter if needed, and sauté until liquid is released (approximately 5 minutes). Store onions, mushrooms and bacon in airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Pour off remaining fat and deglaze pan with approximately 1 cup of wine. Pour this into Dutch oven along with chicken stock, quartered onion, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme and bay leaf. Add all of the remaining wine. Preheat oven to 325° F.

Place chicken in oven and cook for 2 to 2-1/2 hours, or until chicken is tender. Maintain a very gentle simmer and stir occasionally.

Once chicken is done, remove it to a heatproof container, cover, and place in oven to keep warm. Strain the sauce in a sieve and degrease (discard carrots, celery, thyme, garlic and bay leaf). Return the sauce to a pot, place over medium heat, and reduce by 1/3 (depending on how much liquid you began with, this should take 20-45 minutes).

When sauce has thickened, add pearl onions, mushrooms and bacon, and cook another 15 minutes or until heated through. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary; remove from heat, add the chicken and serve.

Serve from Dutch oven with either long grained white rice or lightly buttered egg noodles. (note: if sauce is not thick enough at the end of reducing, you may add a mixture of equal parts butter and flour kneaded together, starting with 1 tbsp. each; whisk this in the sauce for 4-5 minutes, and repeat if necessary).

Le Creuset® Dutch oven. lecreuset.com.