My favorite is Cakebread, but I'm looking to try a few different ones. Any recommendations?
2007-01-03 13:52:16 · 4 answers · asked by MastaWoo 2 in Food & Drink ➔ Beer, Wine & Spirits
Some would say Chateau de Sancerre from France would be the baseline of all great sauvignon blancs. However, the good folks "almost" down under in New Zealand really pushed sauvignon blanc into the spotlight.
Our favs are from New Zealand: Kim Crawford ~$15 and Tohu ~$16.
More info on the grape...
Sauvignon blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which probably originates from the Bordeaux region of France. It is now planted in much of the world's winelands, producing a crisp, dry, and refreshing white varietal wine.
Depending on climate, its flavours can range from aggressively grassy to sweetly tropical, although perhaps the most memorable descriptor is "cat's pee on a gooseberry bush", which is also the smell of fresh guava fruit. In France, Sauvignon blanc is grown in Bordeaux, (as white Bordeaux and Sauternes) and the Loire Valley (as Pouilly Fumé, Sancerre, and Sauvignon de Touraine). Sauvignon was not considered a great wine until Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé were 'discovered' in Paris in the 1960s.
In the 1990s, wines from New Zealand made the grape quite popular, with less expensive and varietally correct wines, produced by wineries such as Montana, Babich, Hunters and Cloudy Bay Vineyards. Many critics consider the latter to produce the very best Sauvignon Blanc in the entire world. Plantings in California, Australia, Chile, and South Africa are also extensive, and Sauvignon Blanc is steadily increasing in popularity as white wine drinkers seek alternatives to Chardonnay. However, "no other region in the world can match Marlborough, the northeastern corner of New Zealand's South Island, which seems to be the best place in the world to grow Sauvignon blanc grapes" (Taber).
2007-01-03 15:42:36 · answer #1 · answered by Destination Wine and Spirits 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I got a few bottles of a South African sav blanc called Southern Right. It was excellent- very balanced. Most New Zealand and some Napa/Sonoma sav blancs tend to hit you over the head with either grapefruit or pineapple; this one was more nuanced. Salud!
2007-01-04 10:45:18 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
isabel estate from Marlbourogh New Zealand. You can usually find it at Bev Mo.
Silverado Vineyards from Napa also makes a great one.
2007-01-03 13:59:06 · answer #3 · answered by Lisa H 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I like Nobilo from New Zealand.
New Zealand tends not to oak SB, so they have a crisper taste.
2007-01-03 14:57:35 · answer #4 · answered by Damien C 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋