Taming the savage white wine

By Madeleine Ahlquist
Worcester Magazine

If the round and buttery Chardonnay is the beauty of white wines, then sauvignon blanc may be the beast. The name comes from the French word sauvage, meaning “wild,” and is fitting to describe what is one of the wine world’s strongest personalities. It is clean, bold, pungent, taut, herbal and acidic. Despite the unsubtle nature of sauvignon blanc, it offers the virtue of being often less expensive than chardonnay and it pairs really well with food. If pinot noir is the quintessential red food-pairing wine, then sauvignon blanc is the analogous white. Its high level of acid gives it sufficient backbone to stand up to the most complex dishes.

Sauvignon blanc in its bold, best, and outrageous form comes from the Loire Valley in France (Sancerre and Pouilly Fume) and from New Zealand. Milder incarnations of the wine are created in South Africa, Australia and California, where a honeyed version of the wine is the result of mixing sauvignon blanc and the semillon grape.

Common flavors found in sauvignon blanc include citrus varieties such as grapefruit, lemon and lime, lemongrass, peach and sometimes melon, often from including semillon in the blend. California winemakers seem to be on the fence when deciding the flavor profile of sauvignon blanc. Many look to New Zealand for inspiration, creating citrus/acidic wines.

On the other hand, winemakers go out of their way to downplay the herbal qualities of the grape. Often the wine is barrel-fermented, like chardonnay, taking on soft fig and melon characteristics. California winemakers also use the term “fume blanc” for their version of sauvignon blanc. This is simply a marketing device, as fume blanc and sauvignon blanc are the same exact wine. It is not necessarily true that wines labeled “fume blanc” have a smoky characteristic.

When a sauvignon blanc is poorly made it tastes vegetal, which is different from herbal. Vegetal wines taste like the water that vegetables have been boiled in. Such wines may contain grapes that have been allowed to grow out of control, or have been grown in wet, poorly drained soil.

To help you choose, let me offer the names of some of the best producers of sauvignon blanc. From New Zealand: Cloudy Bay, Konrad and Co. From California: Cakebread, Duckhorn, Frog’s Leap, Mondavi, Dry Creek and St. Supery.

Madeleine Ahlquist is co-owner of The One Eleven Chop House and The Sole Proprietor in Worcester, both of which are frequent winners of Wine Spectator's "Award of Excellence."