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Oregon & Washington Wine Specialists Since 1988


*Northwest White Wines - Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc

 

Bethel Heights Pinot Blanc 06

$15.07 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $16.75

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Sensual, plump, and soft personality. Honeydew melon-like flavors are interspersed with flowers in its lovely, light to medium-bodied character. Exotic fruit aromas and flavors - fig, melon, pear, lemon rind - are wrapped around a core of minerality....read more

Barnard Griffin Fume Blanc 06

$10.30 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $11.45

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Barnard Griffin Fume Blanc (another name for Sauvignon Blanc) "has good aromas of fresh flowers and herbs backed with vanilla scents. This vintage shows good acidity and crispness. The flavors are dominated by ripe melon with faintly grassy hints in ...read more

Tyee Pinot Blanc 05

$11.65 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $12.95

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Ripe flavors of citrus and melons with floral, herbal and honey notes. Crisp and full-bodied with a mineral-like finish, this wine is excellent with seafood, especially fresh crab and shellfish. Our Pinot blanc is produced from true Pinot blanc gr...read more

Wine By Joe Pinot Blanc 06

$11.65 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $12.95

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Wine by Joe's Pinot blanc is a value priced dry white wine, perfect with halibut or other lightly flavored fish....read more

Brooks Winery Amycas White 06/07

$13.28 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $14.75

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Brooks Winery Amycas White 07 is a blended white wine with rich pear, rose petals, and tropical and citrus aromas. The mouth feel is rich, layered with pear & stone fruit flavors on a frame of vibrant acidity. Blend is Pinot blanc, Gewurztraminer,...read more

Grochau Cellars Sauvignon Blanc 07

$16.16 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $17.95

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Grochau Cellars Sauvignon Blanc refreshes with a clean, citrus scent and flavors of delicate citrus blossom, lime, and a hint of melon and passion fruit. The finish is clean and contains slate and mineral notes. A lovely texture in the mouth and a...read more

Chateau Benoit Muller Thurgau 07

$12.55 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $13.95

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Chateau Benoit Muller Thurgau is now called Anne Amie Cuvee A Muller Thurgau. Château Benoit changred its name to Anne Amie and added "Cuvee A" to the Muller Thurgau name.

Muller Thurgau is one of Oregon's most popular inexpensive white win...read more

O'Shea Scarborough Semillon Klipsun Vineyard 07

$19.75 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $21.95

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The O'Shea Scarborough Semillon Klipsun Vineyard 07 is made from one of the best vineyards for Semillon. Klipsun is one of the best in the state, with deep sandy soils, terraced steeply above a canyon near the little north-flowing Yakima River. ...read more

Chinook Winery Semillon 06/07

$15.25 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $16.95

Qty.

Citrus and creamy "soda" flavors, with ripe fruit flavor and crisp acidity. Great with spicy foods like salsa, mild to hot peppers, and condiments like sesame oil and soy sauce....read more

Chinook Winery Yakima Valley White NV

$10.75 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $11.95

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Chinook Winery Yakima Valley White is a blend of Washington State Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Chardonnay....read more

Patricia Green Cellars Sauvignon Blanc 07

$13.28 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $14.75

Qty.

Intense nose of lime, white peach, grapefruit, and quince, with creamy notes. Flavors are a cross between the lime and stones of Sancerre, the big grassiness and weight of New Zealand sauv blanc, and the lushness of California's style....read more

Daedalus Cellars Gruner Veltliner 07

$18.86 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $20.95

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Full bodied Austrian varietal white wine from limited planting in Elton Vineyard, Eola Hills....read more

J. Christopher "Cristo Misto" 08

$13.45 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $14.95

Qty.

J. Christopher "Cristo Misto" 08 - Refreshing white wine blend, great for summer served chilled, with cold shrimp salad, aged soft cheese on baguette with fresh basil and olive oil.

60% Sauvignon Blanc, 39% Pinot Gris. 1% Riesling...read more

Brooks Winery Ara Riesling 06

$23.36 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $25.95

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Brooks Winery Ara Riesling 06 is named for a constellation in the Southern Hemisphere this wine has a rich complex nose of slate, spices, apples and honey. Concentrated and intense, the mid-palate has flavors of wet stones, apricots, and peaches. ...read more

Arbor Crest Sauvignon Blanc Bacchus Vyd 06

$10.75 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $11.95

Qty.

Polished flavors that are fresh and lively with enticing grapefruit, pineapple and spicy characters that unfold nicely on the smooth finish. - the winery

...read more

Grochau Cellars Z White 07

$11.65 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $12.95

Qty.

The Z White is 85% Chardonnay, 10% Riesling, and 5% Gewurztraminer. Z is a crisp, lighter style white wine with fresh fruit flavors and a zing of a finish. Crisp and sippable on a summer day, air with salads and grilled fish. This wine is a cooper...read more

Buty Winery Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc 2007

$26.05 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $28.95

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Buty Semillon-Sauvignon blanc 2007 is one of the Northwest's top white wines each vintage. A classic white Bordeaux blend, it offers up bright fruit and citrus acidity. Perfect with nearly any fish or seafood dish. Oysters, anyone?...read more

Chateau Saint Michelle Sauvignon Blanc Horse Heaven 07

$14.35 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $15.95

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Forward aromas and flavors are focused on lime, grapefruit zest and pear....read more

Erath Vineyards Pinot Blanc 06

$12.10 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $13.45

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Definite seashells in the nose, perhaps marigolds,sweet vanilla and kiwi fruit. A creamy mid palate with a marzipan edge and then a finish with zippy lime and crab apple bite. Bracing and crisp....read more

Eyrie Pinot Blanc Estate 06

$17.50 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $19.45

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Old vines and careful winemaking yield a complex, Alsatian style white. True Pinot blanc, from a collection of Alsatian clones planted at Eyrie's Three Sisters (Pinot noir, Pinot gris, Pinot blanc) Vineyard in the Dundee Hills. Limited bottling....read more

Jezebel Blanc 05

$10.75 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $11.95

Qty.

Extremely popular, crisp pear, peach, perfect summer sipper, always sells out fast. A blend of Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Riesling, and Gewurtztraminer. Just lovely for the price....read more

Lone Canary Sauvignon Blanc 06

$9.68 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $10.75

Qty.

100% Stainless steel fermentation. Highly rated in the Nortwest Wine Press! Wine Enthusiast 88 Points - Best Buy!...read more

St Innocent Freedom Hill Pinot Blanc 07

$17.05 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $18.95

Qty.

French in style, intense yet nuanced, with classic Alsacian fresh scents, creamy stone fruit, and clean, mineral/slate finish. This vintage, the wine is especially good with dishes made with mussels.

From the winery: "Ripe pear, peach, apple...read more

Waterbrook Sauvignon Blanc 05

$10.12 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $11.25

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Concentrated with a burst of lemon lime, followed by freshly mown hay and herbal tones focused by crisp tangy acidity. Pairs well with lemon garnished fish dishes, Thai food and goats cheese....read more


 

MORE INFORMATION

About Sauvignon Blanc
by Jim LaMar

Charles Wetmore, founder of Cresta Blanca winery, brought the first cuttings of Sauvignon Blanc to California in the 1880s. Some came from the vineyards of the legendary Sauternes Chateau Y'Quem, world's most expensive and famous dessert wine. These plantings did well in the Livermore Valley and Sauvignon Blanc became one of the early favorite dry whites from California. Eventually, Sauvignon Blanc became a varietal with an alias in California, where it is now often known and labeled as "Fumé Blanc".

For many years, California wineries made wine from Sauvignon Blanc grapes, but there was almost no consistency of style: some made bone-dry wines after the fashion of the French in the Graves and Loire regions, while others chose to make very sweet, dessert-style wines after the Sauternes and Barsacs.

Robert Mondavi deserves credit for this renaming of this varietal to distinguish the style it is made in. Mondavi made a sweet style from the 1966 and '67 vintages, labeling their wine "Sauvignon Blanc", but changed to a dry version in 1968. To denote the change to their customers, they came up with the "Fumé Blanc" name after Pouilly-Fumé, one of the most popular dry-style Loire Valley versions. Rather than copyrighting or trademarking the name, Mondavi offered to allow anyone to use the Fumé Blanc name to market a dry-style Sauvignon Blanc. Note that the term is only used on American wines.

"Fumé" literally translates to "smoke," but this has nothing to do with a "smoky" flavor in the wine, although that is a popular notion. It instead refers to the morning fog that covers the Loire Valley and is "as thick as smoke." Any smoke-like smells or flavors in Sauvignon Blanc probably arise from aging in toasted oak barrels and are definitely not due to any inherent character of this grape variety.

The varietal identity of Sauvignon Blanc is typically closer to grass, bell-pepper, or grapefruit in nature. It can often even pick up an aggressive "catbox" odor when lacking sun exposure or harvested underripe. Clonal selection and viticultural practices that expose the grapes to more sunlight yield wine that is more melon-like in aroma. Development of hardier clones has helped production levels, which were irregular in humid climates, due to this variety's propensity to develop "powdery mildew" and "black rot".

Sauvignon Blanc vines tend to be quite vigorous growers, so it is especially important to manage the canopy by careful pruning and even by thinning leaves and shoots to direct the plant's energy towards ripening the fruit. Unrestrained growth and over-cropping result in neutral-tasting wines of little interest.

Barrel-fermentation, although not commonly used for this variety when compared to Chardonnay, can also modify the Sauvignon Blanc aroma and add complexities. Blending Sauvignon Blanc with Semillon is a common practice that can add richness and an extra element of figs to the aroma, softening the sometimes abrasive Sauvignon Blanc character.

This blending is widespread in the Graves district of France's Bordeaux region (normally 75-85% Sauvignon Blanc to 15-25% Semillon). In the communes of Sauternes and Barsac, a blend of 60-70% Semillon with 30-40% Sauvignon Blanc is more typical. When allowed to hang, past the normal ripeness point for dry table wine, the grape flavors may be concentrated by the influence of a naturally-occurring mold known as "Noble Rot" (Botrytis cinerea), to make the area's famous dessert wines.

Loire Valley wines made from Sauvignon Blanc, such as Pouilly Fumé and Sancerre, are most often 100% Sauvignon Blanc, unblended and usually made without the use of oak.

In light of these French traditional methods, the California practices then become somewhat ironic. California producers tend to use the Loire-derived Fumé Blanc name and bottle shape for their blended and oak-aged wines (more like the Bordelais). Meanwhile, the California Sauvignon Blancs that are 100% varietal and most likely without oak in fermentation or aging (distinctly Loire-like practices), are most often bottled in Bordeaux-style bottles!

There are wineries who make their Sauvignon Blanc in a dry-style but do not use the "Fumé" name. On the other hand, are there are no regulations limiting the use of "Fumé" to dry wines. This unfortunate inconsistency can be confusing for the consuming public. The American wine industry would probably be best off to adapt some specific guidelines.

Besides France and California, Sauvignon Blanc also is produced successfully by New Zealand and South Africa (excellent in both), Chile, Argentina, and, to lesser degrees of production, Washington State, Australia, and Italy, where it is expanding. With fairly good tonnage per acre and lacking the inflationary consumer demand of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc is often a very good value.

Sauvignon Blanc is usually quite distinctive and one of the easier varietal wines to recognize by its often sharp, aggressive smell. The most common (but not exclusive) smell and/or flavor elements found in sauvignon blanc-based wines include:

With naturally high acidity, Sauvignon Blanc is always tangy, tart, nervy, racy, or zesty, and this character pervades even sweet and dessert versions, keeping them from being cloying and sticky-tasting.

Dry-style Sauvignon or Fumé Blancs are very versatile in accompanying foods and can handle components such as tomatoes, bell peppers, cilantro, raw garlic, smoked cheeses or other pungent flavors that would clash with or overpower many Chardonnays and almost all other dry whites. In fact, Sauvignon Blanc is probably the best dry white wine to accompany the greatest variety of foods.

About Chenin Blanc
by Jim LaMar

Chenin blanc is arguably the most versatile of all wine grape varieties. Crisp, dry table wines, light sparkling wines, long-lived, unctuous, nectar-like dessert wines, and even brandy are all produced in various areas of the wine world, all of chenin blanc.

It might even be said that chenin blanc is France's most successful export variety, if only considering the vine rather than the wine. Although the native region for chenin is the Loire Valley (where the grape is often called Pineau de la Loire), there is less planted in all of France than in most wine-producing countries of the New World. It is planted as Pinot Blanco in Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Argentina, where there are over 10,000 acres of chenin blanc. Nearly a third of vines in South Africa are chenin blanc, where it is also called Steen. In California, it is the third most widely planted white wine grape. Australia has close to 1,500 acres and New Zealand 500.

Resistance to many diseases, vine vigor, and the tendency to early bud break and late ripening suits chenin blanc to grow in climates too warm for many vinifera types. The vine grows well in many soil types and can be very vigorous in either sandy loam or clay loam. Production is fairly consistent at from five to eight tons per acre. At three or four years old, the vines tend to overproduce and may set crops too large to fully ripen in the coolest areas. Chenin blanc grapes are susceptible to both bunch rot and sun burn.

In spite of its wide plantings and potential flavor palates, most chenin blanc is made into serviceable, but generally bland wine. A general tendency to over-irrigate and overcrop further reduce most Chenin Blanc to the forgettable. Careful viticultural practices easily overcome chenin blanc's weaknesses and can result in excellent wine.

Nearly all the truly memorable Chenin Blancs are French, from Saumur and Savennières (dry), Anjou and Vouvray (off-dry), Coteaux du Layon and Quarts de Chaume (dessert), and Crémant de Loire (sparkling). No matter the style, a certain floral, honeyed character, along with zesty acidity are the sensory trademarks of well-made Chenin Blanc. When conditions are right, Botrytis cinerea adds additional complexity and intensity.

The most frequently encountered (but not exclusive) smell and/or flavor elements found in Chenin Blanc-based wines include:

Jim LaMar is editor of Professional Friends of Wine, instructs Introductory Sensory Evaluation of Wine at California State University, Fresno, and has been drinking, thinking, teaching and writing about wine for 30 years. He is a member of Professional Friends of Wine.

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