As summer is approaching fast, we tend to think about the perfect drinks to have on those warm summer days. Sauvignon Blanc is a winner throughout the year but during the warmer months its particularly popular due to its light, fresh, crisp characters. Everywhere you go now you will see an abundance of wines made from the Sauvignon Blanc grape and one country stands out from the most: New Zealand. During the 1990’s the grape variety became very popular, and the Marlborough region was favoured due to the good drainage of its soil which encourages the vine to concentrate its flavours in lower yields. These low yields are what New Zealand wine growers’ favour. I’m always telling customers that the same grape variety can taste completely different depending on where you are in the world and to me, Sauvignon Blanc is the prime example to this.
Terroir (everything that affects the production of grapes, e.g., weather, location, soil etc) plays a huge part in the style of wine produced and as Sauvignon Blanc is planted in many parts of the world, you will see a vast array of styles on the market. Soil is very important, and the soils of the Marlborough region tend to be quite sandy with a mix of slate. This results in intense grassy characters with high levels of acidity and citrus characters. Whereas Sauvignon from the Loire regions of Touraine, Sancerre and Pouilly Fume are altogether different. These wines tend to be softer with more pineapple fruit due to the limestone soil. In the Pouilly Fume region the topsoil adds a hint of ‘smokiness’ to the wine, hence the name.
Chilean Sauvignon Blanc has become hugely popular due to their great value. It’s the second most planted variety in Chile and started to make a name for itself on the market during the 1980’s. Here it’s all about the proximity of the Pacific and the producers started to develop and push the cooler wine regions close by which Sauvignon is more suited to. Eventually some extremely high-quality interesting wines began to appear, not to mention their value for money. The wines tend to have loads of citrus and grapefruit characters balanced out with tropical fruit like melon.
Whichever country you go for, Sauvignon Blanc has a huge following and flavours you get from the wines are perfect for your summer outdoors drinking.
Try these…….
Pacifico Sur Sauvignon Blanc Central Valleys Chile £7.99.
Crisp, zesty fruit with citrus and tropical hints.
Paterson’s Grove Sauvignon Marlborough New Zealand £9.99
Aromatic with hints of passion fruit and crisp acidity.
Domaine des Mazelles Touraine Sauvignon France £12.99
Lovely soft characters, elegant with balanced acidity.