Grape of the Week

Sauvignon Blanc aka Savvy B

Pronounced: "saw-vin-yon blonk"

🌈 Color & Style: White varietal, light to medium minus body, and fruity AF.

TL;DR: It is New Zealand’s pride and joy, and their best known export, after sheep!

 🍇 What is it? Sauvignon Blanc is a popular white grape varietal known known for its high acidity, which makes the wine very refreshing. It can be easily recognized by its tropical and citrus fruit flavors like gooseberry, lime and passionfruit in addition to grassy, herbaceous, and asparagus flavors. You might ask “why does my wine taste like vegetables or grass”. There are hundreds of compounds in wine and grassiness comes from a compound called aldehydes and vegetable flavors like green pepper or asparagus come from compounds called pyrazines. I will also note that Passionfruit aromas are very common, and typical of Marlborough, New Zealand. If you’re ever blind tasting a wine, and you smell pronounced passionfruit, my $ is n Marlborough.

There’s also a style of barrel-fermented Sauvignon Blanc known as fumé blanc, which trades in some creaminess and can look rather rich and full-bodied.

📍Place of Origin: Most likely, Sauvignon Blanc came from France, and likely the Loire Valley, where it is still a hero (especially in the region of Sancerre).

 🌎 Today's Major Countries of Production: Marlborough in New Zealand, Margaret River, Yarra Valley & Adelaide Hills in Australia, Northern Italian regions like Friuli and Trentino, Maipo Valley & Colchagua in Chile, Elgin & Paarl in South Africa, and California. You’ll also find Sauvignon Blanc made in France in the Loire Valley (aka Sancerre) and produced in Bordeaux, but it is often blended with Semillion as the 2 of 3 common varietals in White Bordeaux production.

🍷 Winemaking is generally protective, meaning the producers want little or no oxygen interaction to preserve the freshness and fruitiness of the wine.

• There is one wild style of Sauvi B production in the United States. You may see Fume Blanc which refers to the oak aging of Sauvignon Blanc. This style was coined by Robert Mondavi, who was the first to open a large-scale winery operation after prohibition ended. US consumers generally thought Sauvignon Blanc was inferior to other varietals as it was traditionally served sweet and often labelled as “sauternes”. He rebranded Sauvignn Blanc and successfully changed US perception of the varietal due to the unique taste of Fumé Blanc.

 🍕 Pairing Tip: The most perfect salad wine. Salad, fresh seafood, cooked seafood, BBQ white meat. All of these things pair with Sauv, but caution with tannic reds as the high acidity and herbaceousness of young Sauv can make for huge palate clashes. One of the more fun matches is goat’s cheese, with the tang of a great chèvre chaud (a warm goat’s cheese salad) just magic.

 🤔 Interesting to Note:

• Sauvignon Blanc is the parent of Cabernet Sauvignon, with the theory that Sauvignon Blanc crossed with Cabernet Franc in Bordeaux. Cabernet Sauvignon has elevated pyrazines (notes of green pepper) that are key to Sauvignon Blanc!

• My favorite Sancerre is Silex. It’s a steep price, but 1000% worth it.