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By Staff and Wire ReportsSauvignon blanc is a light, refreshing white wine, perfect for the summer.
Like revenge, sauvignon blanc is best served cold. Its chance to settle old scores with chardonnay, its archrival in France, is best right now, when the call goes out for cool-sipping, quaffable white wines. Light summer recipes just love the herbal, refreshing crispness provided by a chilly carafe of sauvignon blanc.
Picking the one you like and finding the right style can be tough, according to wine writer Fred Tasker. He once tasted dozens of sauvignon blancs from around the world for a wine lesson and came up with a vast range of flavors: "Dole's pineapple chunks in extra heavy syrup, apricots, peaches, melons, figs, kiwi, fresh-cut lawn, lemon grass, grapefruit, limes, gooseberries, celery, bouquet garni, oregano, pencil lead, gunflint, and, finally, cat (spray). . . . That's some versatile wine, huh?"
That range inevitably creates disagreements - among both winemakers and wine fans. Every big wine fair has a debate on how sauvignon blanc should taste.
At one end, some winemakers say consumers won't buy it unless it's in a ripe, pineapple-and-peach-scented style. Others like the grassy, flinty, feline style it develops in such cool areas as France's Loire Valley. They call the sweeter styles "chardonnay wanna-bes" and say there's already plenty of real chardonnay out there. But then, there's similar debate and confusion over chardonnay, too.
Today sauvignon blanc is made in different ways, from Bordeaux to Chile, New Zealand and all around the United States.
In Washington state, Covey Run Winery, using grapes from that state's Columbia and Yakima valleys, picks early, at low sugar levels, seeking the grape's crisp, citrus-and-green-apple style they say goes better with food than the grape's riper styles.
Quivira Estate Vineyards, in Sonoma's Dry Creek Valley, takes a different approach to get a richer, smokier, sweeter style. Two percent of the blend is an especially perfumey clone of sauvignon blanc; another 12 percent is semillon grapes, adding pineapple flavors and lushness. And Quivira ages most of the wine in oak barrels and on the lees for creaminess.
Others take the blending further. Seeking even more richness, White Truck California White Wine of Sonoma is only a little over half sauvignon blanc; the rest is pinot grigio, viognier and chardonnay.
The big new push in sauvignon blanc comes from the emerging regions of New Zealand, Chile and South Africa. In those areas, where chardonnay is often pretty blah, sauvignon blanc has met with astounding success by steering a middle course between pineapple and grapefruit. These wines maintain the raciness of sauvignon blancs from the Loire and Bordeaux, while adding a welcome New World dollop of bold fruit.
For a trump card, sauvignon blanc maintains one longtime advantage over chardonnay: It's often cheaper, and many good ones cost $10 or less. Don't hesitate to try a bargain.
Information from Fred Tasker of McClatchy Newspapers and Ben Giliberti of the Washington Post was used in this report.
Best of the bunch
Sauvignon blanc wines are made across California in regions hot and cold, in the northwest United States, in the Loire and Bordeaux regions of France and in South Africa, South America, Australia and New Zealand.
Highly recommended:
* Covey Run, Columbia Valley, 2004. Floral aromas; flavors of lemons, limes, green apples and gooseberries; crisp acids; $9. - Fred Tasker, McClatchy Newspapers
* Quivira, Fig Tree Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley, 2004. Sweet melon aromas, rich pineapple and other tropical fruit flavors, crisp; $20. - F.T.
* Whitehaven, Marlborough, New Zealand, 2005. Classic New Zealand gooseberry and grass aromas and flavors, rich but very crisp; $20. - F.T.
* Sincerely, Neil Ellis, South Africa, 2005. Anjou pear flavors with notes of fig and lime, from the coast of South Africa; $12. - Ben Giliberti, Washington Post
* Oyster Bay, Marlborough, New Zealand, 2005. Racy acidity and bright flavors of green apples play off against subtle lime minerality. A beauty; $12. - B.G.
* Grove Mill, Marlborough, New Zealand, 2005. Zesty flavors and aromas of tropical fruit, apricot and fresh herbs with light floral overtones and creamy vanilla notes. Strength and finesse; $15. - B.G.
Recommended:
* White Truck California White Wine, 2005. Rich and extra fruity with ripe melon and pear flavors, soft and smooth; $12. - F.T.
* Robert Mondavi, Napa Valley, 2004. Aromas of oak and pineapples, rich flavors of mangoes and peaches; lush; $18. - F.T.
* Blackstone, Monterey County, 2005. Rich peach and apricot flavors, crisp finish; $12. - F.T.
* Santa Rita Blanca Reserva, Casablanca, Chile, 2005. Full-flavored and complex; $11. - B.G.
* Yalumba Y Series, Australia, 2005. Balanced acidity and varietal character provide an ideal predinner sipper or tart match for light entree; $11. - B.G.
* Veramonte, Casablanca, Chile, 2005. This racy, bone-dry offering is impressive; $10. - B.G.