Oregon & Washington Wine Specialists Since 1988
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*Northwest White Wine
Sauvignon Blanc
MORE INFORMATION
One of the noble white grapes of France's Bordeaux region, Sauvignon Blanc is gaining fans globally as a food-friendly alternative to Chardonnay. The grape is grown with great success in California's Napa Valley as well as New Zealand. In the Northwest, Washington produces the most Sauvignon Blanc, and the Columbia Valley's version is unlike those from other regions. Washington's tends to be loaded with luscious orchard fruit aromas and flavors. Like its counterpart in Bordeaux, Washington's Sauvignon Blancs often are expertly blended with Semillon, giving them tremendous complexity and character.
Sauvignon Blanc is planted on 841 acres of vineyard in Washington State and on 77 acres in Oregon. These grapes make wines that appear under two names-Sauvignon Blanc and Fumé Blanc. They are becoming increasingly popular for their distinctive character, often described as fruity with a touch of herbaceousness and lively acidity. As with Chardonnay, styles range from slightly tart and grassy to tangy pineapple overlayed with oak. 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 the Pacific Northwest, 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. |
