Old World vs. New World: Sauvignon Blanc

There are many genres of Sauvignon Blanc people. There are the people who don’t particularly fancy wine and look to Sauvignon Blanc as something reliable and easy to understand. There are the Sancerre snobs, who I fear some wine professionals (myself not included) think of as Sancerre simpletons. Why? Because these days the value for price of Sancerre sucks. Then there are the White Bordeaux evangelists. And lastly, there is Sarah Jessica Parker there with a glass her New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc . Oh, and then there is me. Who unapologetically sometimes refers to it as Savvy B, but only when I am in the midst of what I’ve coined Basic B*#@h wine phases. I become a Savvy B Basic B. Where I seek it like a thirsty herbivore craving its grassy nature in all its glory. I also have phases where it downright repels me. Perhaps because I’ve tasted a few too many with overt asparagus/tinned vegetable notes, or as the French call it, pipi de chat. Look it up. But well-made Sauvignon Blanc can be glorious and all the feral feline aromas actually play nicely with flowers and citrus and pineapple. I have to say, Sauvignon Blanc is a bit promiscuous, and full of unexpected kink. Is it into stainless steel? Why yes it is! Is it comfortable with oak? Sometimes a little too comfortable, if you get my drift. It also couples with Semillon , and they dabble in botrytis-play. That’s the secret to Sauternes , babyyyy. Sauvignon Blanc is a part of it. Oh, and did it have a fling with Cabernet Franc to create the crossing Cabernet Sauvignon ? It sure did. The custody battle rages. Albeit Cabernet Franc is likely winning seeing as it hangs out with Cabernet Sauvignon in the barrel and bottle. So, from the Loire Valley to Bordeaux, New Zealand to Chile to California, let’s explore Sauvignon Blanc. Shower wine pick at the end. Onwards! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ LOIRE I won’t lie. Historically, I have been a nut for the Loire. Sancerre was one of the first quality wines of the region that turned my head. Me and a billion other people. Now I feel like it barely tastes like Sauvignon Blanc, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like it. This region is all about that sweet sweet silex soil. There are also soils with fun names like Les Caillotes (Oxfordian limestone!), terres blanche (Kimmeridgian marl!), but good Loire Sauvignon Blanc can also be found in some other Loire sub-regions too! Let us explore. 2018 Samuel Baron Touraine Sauvignon Blanc Ooooh refreshment! The acidity is one of my favorite Sauvignon Blanc qualities I count on, and this doesn’t disappoint. This wine tastes like springtime, and I envision hunting for Easter eggs while drinking it. At dawn. In the dew. 2018 Patient Cottat Anciennes Vignes Sancerre Ever so ripe a Sancerre! As they seem to be these days. Very full of stone fruit and just hinting at a smidge of grass littered with flowers. The acid gives a good bite, but this wine is full figured. It is a contrast I delight in. 2017 Domaine du Bouchot Pouilly Fume This winery is that of the Kerbiquet family, and this wine used to be called “Regain”. They also make a standard Pouilly-Fume I find enchanting. Possibly my most favoritest in the whole widest worldeth. White peaches and mild greens. Flowers and fun. I don’t want to say too much just try it. BORDEAUX Here you are going to find a lot more blended Sauvignon Blanc, and oak usage is common albeit my favorites don’t make that the main attraction. But I feel like there is a white Bordeaux revival looming. 2019 Châteaux La Gravière Entre-Deux-Mers Citrus and vanilla and a punch of oak, as they often do in Bordeaux. Quite good quality for price to boot. Found it at Whole Foods, and I’d do it again. 2016 Chateau Marjosse This is one of the ever-prolific Lurton family’s wines, and it rocks. Actually it is more of a waltz, elegant and choreographed, skipping across our tongue with joy. Minerally and laced with honeysuckle. It has a decent dose of Semillon and some Muscadelle, so perhaps it isn’t the most pure representation of Sauvignon Blanc, but it is a delicious one. NEW ZEALAND If there is one grape we associate with New Zealand, it is Sauvignon Blanc. And why not? Theirs is unique, pungent and makes no apologies. 2019 Smith and Sheth ‘CRU’ Wairau Valley Sauvignon Blanc Wairau Valley is a sub-region of Marlborough and is cool with a high diurnal range—those vines get good and warm by day and cool their heels at night; this all leads to really ripe fruit without losing acid. Fascinating nose. It twirls and leaps into your nose then switches to an adage, more legato. Goodly acid, almost the sensation of effervescence but with a satin coat weight to it. Fresh cut flowers and citrus fruit moving into gooseberry and mango. You start to get a hint of lychee even. But a mineral current cuts through. Quite fab, as all the Smith & Sheth wines I’ve had have been! 2019 Whitehaven Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc It’s textbook but like, good. Balanced. You get all the grass in the world but it doesn’t punch you in the nose the way some do. Not as much gooseberry, more of a…is that lemon balm? Tis. And white grapefruit. And possibly some white pepper. Very silky. Quaffable enough to sip alone, but complex enough to resist chugging. 2018 Pyramid Valley Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc Fascinating! But give the lady some air. The pressure of being cooped up in screw cap needs a minute. Let her blow off some steam then watch as she shows more and more sides of herself. She has the humor of pipi de chat and the depth of fermenting citrus coupled with the zing of open-minded streams running free. She is every woman and will keep surprising you so keep drinking. This is single vineyard Sauvignon Blanc, from Sam and Mandy Weavers’ Churton Vineyard in Waihopai Valley. Zingy and rich. Not a typical NZ offering methinks. It has a unique something to it. A true biodynamic beauty. CALIFORNIA Ah, my adopted homestate! We do a lot with Sauvignon Blanc here, including sometimes calling it Fumé Blanc and putting it in oak. Which is funny because in Pouilly Fumé, the Loire region I am assuming that name came from, oak is not the common thing. Ah well, it’s California. We do we. 2019 Justin Sauvignon Blanc Really enjoyed, would recommend! It’s a Paso Robles delight full of grapefruit and seashells. Citrus and greens too with balanced acid. No oak here. Zippy, bright, a chatterbox you’d love to have drinks with. Until you realize you are in fact drinking your drinking buddy. But then you remember you shouldn’t be having a conversation with a wine bottle anyway and pour another glass. 2017 Grgich Hills Estate Napa Valley Fumé Blanc The, oh, subtitle of this wine is “Dry Sauvignon Blanc”…is there a sweet one? Zippy af with an underlying luxury oily nature. Like that witty sarcastic soul who at the end of the day looks you in the eye, puts their hand on your shoulder (only if they sense it is not unwanted) and asks how you’ve been doing. Very acid, very mineral, a bit reduced upon opening. But then comes a softness. Reading up on the winemaking, I am guessing that is the time this spent on lees, not oak. That soft lactic latent nature is that hand on your shoulder. Warm and welcoming. But then the grassy herbs hit again. That person is back to business, but you know you are welcome to email them with your request. 2018 Honig Rutherford Reserve Sauvignon Blanc What a treat. WHAT A TREAT. Very layered. Very much evolves. Very much made by a woman winemaker which warms my soul. So, you get the oak on this. But it blends and melds and dances with all sorts of citrus but TART citrus. Bordering on citrus pith. And then dairy notes. Vanilla whipped cream or infused crème fraiche. What a fun wine. I liken it to a key lime pie in a butter crust topped with vanilla whip but…it is not sweet. Just fun. CHILE I have to confess I haven’t had a ton of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc, but I am getting into them! You should too. 2018 Lapostolle Casa Grand Selection Sauvignon Blanc This Sauvignon Blanc is from Rapel, who’d have thunk it! I normally think of that region as being Cabernet territory but given that in France Sauvignon Blanc is grown near Cabernet, I guess that adds up. Founded in Apalta (a subregion of Colchagua which is a subregion of Rapel), Lapostolle apparently owns land in Casablanca too, but I’d think that it would state that was part of the wine if it were. The winery was created by a French couple. Is it cheating to like it and still count as a Chilean endeavor? Methinks not. This ever so golden treat has 15% Sauvignon Gris. Lovely minerality, flowers, hints of grassiness I think is reduction, sweet orange, herbs and four-leaf clover (if we are lucky) all play a part. It rather makes me think of modern Sancerre. I envision being on the lawn making a daisy chain. Cause I grew up when the yard itself was entertainment. As an adult, all I need is a glass of this. Maybe two. 2019 Matetic EQ Coastal Sauvignon Blanc My but that is pungeant! This one comes from Casablanca, close to the coast and cooler. And the acid and underripe citrus confirm this. Then I get asparagus and all sorts of peppery greens like chervil. Haven’t had that in a minute, but I think that’s what I get. A nice wet stone or two tossed in. Maybe one of the “whiskey stones” you can keep in the freezer. Really good and keeps me coming back. I don’t think I’m gonna like it then…I do. Oh! Oh joyous wine. CONCLUSION Oddly, seeing as stylistically they are probably the most different, I am torn between New Zealand and the Loire as my favorites. New Zealand screams that it is Sauvignon Blanc and what a character! Loire feels more recherché. And god I love it. I want to declare a tie. I allllmost feel like pitting the two against each other is like apples and oranges. Can I have two favorites? I am not torn on what my shower wine would be, however. That is the Domaine du Bouchot , all the way. It is one of those wines that annoys me as a writer because I like it too much to feel like I can accurately describe it. But perhaps calling it my shower Sauvignon Blanc speaks a thousand words. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Want to read more from Ellen? Check out her recent articles: Fast Food Slow Wine: Let’s Support Local Pizza! Old World vs. New World: Pinot Noir Part Deux Old World vs. New World: Pinot Noir Part One Quaran-wine Pastimes It's Okay to Like Pinotage You can also listen to Ellen's podcast , The Wine Situation here . Check out her recent transcripts of the Final Five questions: Wine Situation Final Five! With Victoria James Wine Situation Final Five! With Carrie Dykes