Why is it that some people give you pitying looks when you order white wine? It’s delicious, it’s complex, it doesn’t deliver a crushing headache and when the mercury rises it does what red wine can’t: it refreshes.
Enter sauvignon blanc, the white workhorse grape of Bordeaux. After a winter of drinking chardonnay I’ve been craving something light, something tangy, something that tap-dances on the tongue rather than gliding across it. Sauvignon blanc—inexpensive, bottled young and packing flavors of grass, citrus and sometimes tropical fruit—fits the bill.
The go-to choice at our house is Beaulieu Vineyard Coastal Estates Sauvignon Blanc, a crazy good value at $10 (or about $6.50 at Safeway). A witty love letter to pink grapefruit, it’s crisp and dry and extremely food-friendly. For a couple of dollars more, Lake County’s Guenoc Sauvignon Blanc ($12) offers citrus, pineapple and passionfruit. My husband detects licorice, and if this combination sounds cloying, it isn’t. It’s light and playful in a grown-up way, like bocce ball. By comparison the popular Kenwood Sauvignon Blanc ($12), from Sonoma County, tastes like a sauvignon blanc for chardonnay lovers; the Kenwood site’s description of “papaya and jasmine” rang true to me, but the notes about a “fresh and crisp mouthfeel” less so. It was silky and delicious but lacked the snap I was looking for.
The snap showed up in the incredibly refreshing Chateau Bonnet Blanc ($15), a French blend of sauvignon blanc, semillon and muscadelle. Light, herbaceous and minerally, with a little floral action to boot, it has a great acidic structure and partners well with food. It was the only French sauvignon blanc I tried on this last-minute tasting tour and it reminded me to find some more, toute de suite.
I’ve always been a sucker for the tropical fruit of Monterey County-grown white grapes, and for years the Morgan Monterey Sauvignon Blanc ($15) has been our celebratory sauvignon blanc. The official tasting notes mention gooseberry (whatever that tastes like); I’ve always detected citrus, pineapple, guava and grassy flavors with a nice balancing acidity. Delish.
Missing from this lineup is a Santa Cruz Mountain-grown sauvignon blanc, and indeed there are few, if any, to choose from. Maybe it’s too hot here. In any event, one local vintner is bottling sauvignon blanc, and that’s Kathryn Kennedy ($22). A blend of organic grapes from Napa, Lake and Mendocino counties, it won double gold in the “Best of Show–White Wine” category at the Organic and Biodynamic Wine Competition.
