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November 2019

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How to Find the Best Sauvignon Blanc Wines

sauvignon blanc wines
Photo credit: nzwine.com

Sauvignon Blanc wines can be found on virtually every retail shelf and wine list around the globe. This is hardly surprising, given that Sauvignon Blanc is the third most planted white grape variety world-wide. Different theories exist, but most experts agree that it hails from the Loire Valley in France.

Fun fact about Sauvignon Blanc, it is actually one of the parent grapes of Cabernet Sauvignon.

***Side note: I have also made this post into a YouTube video. To watch, just scroll down to the bottom & click play. If you enjoy the video, consider subscribing to my YouTube channel so you never miss an episode of my weekly wine education series. 

So, how does it taste?

Sauvignon Blanc wines are generally high in acidity, dry, and fairly light bodied, with moderate alcohol; the very definition of thirst quenching. Sauvignon Blanc wines feature citrus fruits, gooseberries, fresh cut grass, and wet stone notes in cool areas. In warmer climates, riper and more intense flavours of passion fruit, guava, or peach are common. Sauvignon Blanc wines can also have some surprising aromatics…like sweat or cat pee. This may sound off putting, but mingled with Sauvignon’s fruity and vegetal flavour palate, the combination somehow works.

Where does the best Sauvignon Blanc come from?

Pretty much every wine producing country makes Sauvignon Blanc wines, and many produce outstanding examples. Some of the best known growing areas for high quality Sauvignon Blanc include:

France

The Loire Valley is quite a cool climate, revered for its elegant, restrained style of Sauvignon Blanc. Common features include piercing acidity, a lean, taut structure, and mineral-laden aromatics. Loire Sauvignon Blanc wines are rarely aged in new oak and tend to be bone-dry. Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé are the most famous Loire Valley Sauvignon Blanc vineyard areas.

Sauvignon Blanc is also a major grape in Bordeaux, but here, it is often blended with another white wine grape: Sémillon. There are two major styles of dry Sauvignon Blanc wines in Bordeaux: one fairly simple, crisp, and light-bodied – notable appellations include Bordeaux and the Entre-Deux-Mers. The second style is much richer and weightier with toasty, vanilla flavours from extended ageing in oak barrels. The best of these more opulent wines come from the Pessac-Léognan appellation in the Graves area south of Bordeaux. Sauvignon Blanc is also an important blending component for the sweet, botrytised wines of Sauternes, but that is a topic for another post.

Finally, the Côtes de Gascogne appellation in the South West of France makes zesty, light, grassy Sauvignon Blanc that is often great value.

New Zealand

The majority of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc wines come from the Marlborough region on the country’s South Island. Cooling sea breezes allow for excellent acid retention in this otherwise warm, sunny climate. This makes for Sauvignon Blanc that has really refreshing, mouthwatering acidity but also very ripe, fruity flavours. Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc wines are known for their pungent grassy aromas. They have a touch more body than Loire Sauvignon Blanc wines, giving a rounder, smoother texture. Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is generally unoaked, but some really interesting, flinty, lightly oaked premium Sauvignon Blanc wines are also being made.

Australia

Two regions making particularly exciting Sauvignon Blanc wines in Australia are Margaret River and the Adelaide Hills.

Margaret River, in Western Australia, often blends Sauvignon Blanc with Sémillon. The wines range from quite lean and unoaked to medium bodied and lightly oaked. They have crisp acidity and intriguing flavours, marrying vegetal, asparagus or green bean type notes, with tart gooseberry and citrus nuances, and intense lemon curd and passion fruit flavours.

Sauvignon Blanc generally performs a solo act in the Adelaide Hills region of South Australia. It is usually unoaked here, with lots of bright citrus, peach, guava type aromas. It is light, refreshing, smooth and dry.

California

Sauvignon Blanc wines are produced at all price points and quality levels in California. The most famous style is the Fumé Blanc, especially from the Napa Valley. The term Fumé Blanc was coined by legendary Napa winemaker Robert Mondavi, to indicate a dry, oaked, smoky scented style of Sauvignon Blanc. Stylistically, these Sauvignon Blanc wines are similar to Margaret River and Bordeaux oaked Sauvignons – with a weightier mouthfeel, more overt, ripe fruit, and pronounced toasty, vanilla oak flavours.

Other Rising Stars

South Africa and Chile also make fantastic Sauvignon Blanc wines in a range of styles. Higher acid, more mineral-driven, restrained wines can be found in Leyda, Chile or Elim and Elgin in South Africa. For riper, richer, fruitier Sauvignon Blanc wines look to the Casablanca Valley in Chile, and the Coastal Region districts of Constantia, Stellenbosch and Paarl in South Africa.

How should I drink Sauvignon Blanc?

Sauvignon Blanc is best served chilled, with light-bodied, unoaked wines at 8 – 10°C and fuller bodied, richer SB at 10 – 12°C.

For me, the ultimate food partner for Sauvignon Blanc is a goat cheese. If you ever visit the town of Sancerre, you will be served the local Sauvignon Blanc wines with crottin de Chavignol goat cheese. The pairing is divine! Sauvignon Blanc wines also work nicely with grilled white fish, oysters, green salads with lemony vinaigrettes, and asparagus…a notoriously tricky vegetable to pair with wine.

Reviews Wines

GOOD, AFFORDABLE WINE FINDS FOR FALL

good, affordable wine

We can’t all buy 20$ + wines on a regular basis. Especially if you are like me, and enjoy a glass of wine most evenings. Fortunately, it is possible to find good, affordable wine that drinks well above its modest price tag.

At a recent tasting, I was impressed to see the pride with which a producer of mainly premium wines presented his sub-15$, entry-level wine. This was his introductory wine – as much of a flagship for the estate as his icon wine.

Not so long ago, wineries producing both every day wines and fine wine would take great pains to disassociate the two. The cheaper wines were sold under separate brand names. If the estate name was given, it was buried in the legal mentions on the back label.

While this practice still exists, it seems that an increasing number of vintners are reclaiming their “little wines”. Producing a good, affordable wine has become a point of honour, and a testament to the winemaker’s skill.

With sufficient expertise, and the right equipment, it is comparably easy to make high quality wine from a superior vineyard plot of optimally ripened grapes. However low priced wines are generally made from young vines and/ or high yielding vineyard sites. The grapes aren’t always in pristine condition and haven’t necessarily reached ideal ripeness levels. Their flavours are simpler, and more dilute.

Any number of winemaking tricks can be deployed in an attempt to hide the inadequacies of inferior grapes, but – much like the adage of putting lipstick on a pig – the resultant wines are often disappointing. The flavours and structural elements (acidity, tannins, body, etc.) seem disjointed.

To me, the definition of a good, affordable wine is one that tastes balanced. It likely isn’t a marvel of complexity or concentration, but it appears harmonious on the palate.

As fine wine prices continue to source (see recent article), many wine lovers are obliged to trade down and estates are increasingly being judged on their lower tier offerings. Producing a good, affordable wine is therefore the gateway to trial, to consumer loyalty, and hopefully, to instilling the confidence necessary for an occasional splurge on the estate’s fine wines.

The past couple of months have brought a handful of these little beauties my way. Top picks include:

Lykos Winery “Pop Art” White 2017, IGP Peloponnese (Greece)

Bright lemon, green apple, flinty aromas on the nose give way to a crisp, light-bodied, dry palate, with subtle nutty flavours, and a clean, refreshing finish.

Where to Buy: SAQ (15.80$)

Kir-Yianni Paranga Roditis Malagousia 2018, IGP Macedonia (Greece)

Discreet nose featuring lemon, pear, and wild herbs. Fresh and light-bodied, with a bright citrus-driven mid-palate, and dry, herbal finish.

Where to Buy: SAQ (13.90$)

Aranleon Blés Valencia Crianza 2017, DO Valencia (Spain)

This vibrant, organic red is a blend of Montastrell (aka Mourvèdre), Tempranillo, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Ripe, brambly red and black berry notes feature on the nose and palate. Light and silky with soft tannins.

Where to Buy: SAQ (14.55$)

The Wolftrap Syrah, Mourvèdre, Viognier 2017, Western Cape (South Africa)

Attractive aromas of baked red cherry, with underlying floral, spiced nuances. Smooth and easy drinking on on the medium weight palate, with soft tannins, and a pleasantly warming finish.

Where to Buy: SAQ (14$), LCBO (14.95$)

Bacalhoa “Catarina Tinto” 2015, Setúbal Peninsula (Portugal)

Made from the native Castelão grape (aka Periquita) blended with Alicante Bouschet. Deep, brooding ruby colour, with matching intensity of ultra-ripe dark plum and black cherry aromas. Rich, full-bodied, and velvetty smooth on the palate, with hints of dark chocolate and vanilla spice on the finish.

Where to Buy: SAQ (14.55$)

Rocca delle Macie “Sasyr” 2015, IGT Toscana (Italy) 

Sangiovese is blended with Syrah on this rich, spicy Tuscan red. The nose is redolent with baked red cherries and black pepper. The palate boasts fresh acidity that underscores the ripe fruit flavours nicely. Subtly chalky tannins provide fine structure for this good value every day red.

Where to buy: SAQ (15.80$)