{"id":1984,"date":"2021-11-29T14:47:18","date_gmt":"2021-11-29T14:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1984"},"modified":"2021-11-29T14:47:18","modified_gmt":"2021-11-29T14:47:18","slug":"tasting-sauvignon-blanc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1984","title":{"rendered":"Tasting Sauvignon Blanc"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few issues back we discussed\u00a0 Pinot Noir<\/a><\/em> Tasting<\/em>.\u00a0 That was supposed to be a one-off, because that grape is so ubiquitous and yet so different as you traverse Wine Country.\u00a0 Then we thought about Syrah<\/a>.\u00a0 So we at Power Tasting decided to make a new series, investigating wine tasting from the perspective of different varietals.<\/em><\/p>\n

We have often experienced tastes of Sauvignon Blanc as the first offering on any given California winery\u2019s tasting list for the day.\u00a0 To be honest, it\u2019s not our favorite, but what are we supposed to do when a nice server just puts a glass of it in our hands as we walk into the tasting room?\u00a0 For the most part, California winemakers tend to favor very fruity Sauvignon Blancs. Maybe too much so, in our opinion, so we tend to dismiss wines made from those grapes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Sauvignon Blanc grapes.\u00a0 Photo courtesy of the Wine Institute.<\/em><\/p>\n

Now, it\u2019s not that we never buy or enjoy California Sauvignon Blancs.\u00a0 We enjoy Dry Creek Vineyard\u2019s<\/a> version on hot summer days and Robert Mondavi\u2019s<\/a> all year long (except they call it Fum\u00e9 Blanc).\u00a0 If that were all there were to it, we\u2019d consider these wines pleasant pastimes, but nothing to take seriously.<\/p>\n

Our mistake.<\/p>\n

Sauvignon Blanc has such a different character in France (or really, multiple characters) that it\u2019s hard to recognize French wines made from that grape as being related to their California cousins.\u00a0 Let\u2019s start in the Loire valley, where Sancerre is as austere (almost to the point of sourness) as California Sauvignon is fruit-forward (almost to the point of sweetness).\u00a0 For many people, Sancerre is the wine of choice to match the brininess of raw oysters, totally unlike any California Sauvignon Blancs.<\/p>\n

The French do make things confusing, though.\u00a0 Another widely popular Loire wine is Vouvray, but it\u2019s made from Chenin Blanc.\u00a0 And then there\u2019s Pouilly Fum\u00e9 from the Loire, which is Sauvignon Blanc and Pouilly Fuiss\u00e9 from Burgundy, which isn\u2019t.\u00a0\u00a0 (It\u2019s Chardonnay.)<\/p>\n

In Bordeaux, Sauvignon Blanc is one of the two primary grapes in Sauternes.\u00a0 (The other is Semillon.)\u00a0 In this case, the wines aren\u2019t almost sweet; they\u2019re very decidedly honeyed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Shriveled grapes to be made into Sauternes wine.\u00a0 Photo courtesy of Winetraveler.<\/em><\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing quite like wine tasting in the Sauternes region, which also includes the village of Barsac.\u00a0 It\u2019s a day spent drinking dessert.\u00a0 The grapes aren\u2019t as pretty; they\u2019re all shriveled by the botrytis fungus that concentrates the sugars and adds an indescribable sensation to the taste of the wine.\u00a0 But the castles and the grand ch\u00e2teaux are wonderful and the food is delicious.<\/p>\n

In Italy, they make wine from Sauvignon Blanc all over the country, especially in the northeastern part, but they just call the grape Sauvignon.\u00a0 Frankly, they\u2019re not the white wines that Italy is famous for.<\/p>\n

They are famous for Sauvignon Blanc in New Zealand, where we\u2019ve visited but not had the chance to go wine tasting.\u00a0 The Kiwi white wines are also very (maybe two very<\/em>\u2019s) fruit forward, the fruits in question often being citrus and pineapple.\u00a0 These wines are not to everyone\u2019s taste, but they certainly put New Zealand on the map of Wine Country, so that\u2019s something to be proud of.<\/p>\n

A little fruity, a lot fruity, maybe sour, definitely sweet.\u00a0 That\u2019s some grape, Sauvignon Blanc!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few issues back we discussed\u00a0 Pinot Noir Tasting.\u00a0 That was supposed to be a one-off, because that grape is so ubiquitous and yet so different as you traverse Wine Country.\u00a0 Then we thought about Syrah.\u00a0 So we at Power Tasting decided to make a new series, investigating wine tasting from the perspective of different … Continue reading Tasting Sauvignon Blanc<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1984"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1984"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1984\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1987,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1984\/revisions\/1987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}