Crossword Genius

White Italian lady in suspicious surroundings (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

chardonnay

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'white' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'italian lady in suspicious surroundings' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'lady' could be 'donna' (I've seen this before) and 'donna' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'chary' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for chardonnay that I've seen before include "Variety of white wine" , "drink" , "White wine grape" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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