Crisp and Clean

Sauvignon blanc rising.

    Say sauvignon blanc and many think of the great Pouilly-Fumés and Sancerres from the Loire Valley in France, or maybe the strikingly different but notable white wines that have emerged from New Zealand in the last few years.
    In California, however, this great grape didn’t fare so well initially. As the wine industry re-emerged in the late 1950s and ’60s, sauvignon blanc took on the status of a poor man’s chardonnay, second in quality and popularity. In some instances, sauvignon blanc, with its grassy, herbal and mineral elements, can also provide a hint of “pipi du chat” (“cat pee”) in its nose, which some, but not a great many, wine drinkers find appealing. So shaky was the reputation of the grape that when legendary pioneers like Robert Mondavi and Mike Grgich made a sauvignon blanc, they preferred to called it fumé blanc, so consumers would not be put off and would give it a try.
    This slow start was largely the fault of techniques, not the grape itself, said Kristin Belair, winemaker at Honig Winery in the Napa Valley, where she’s been making highly acclaimed sauvignon blanc for the last nine years.
    “Thank God for phylloxera,” she said, referring to the disease that wiped out vineyards in the 1980s. “We had to rethink a lot of things: The way grapes were grown, how they were trellised, when they were harvested. Winemakers have learned a lot about the grape.”
    Applying different techniques for growing and making the wines—especially the use of stainless steel instead of oak tanks for aging—has led to the emergence of stellar sauvignon blancs that are fresh, crisp and sleek, low-alcohol, superbly food friendly and often extremely good values.
    “It’s a really great grape to work with,” said Belair. She makes three wines, the Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc, Rutherford Sauvignon Blanc and a late harvest dessert wine. “It’s got a lot going for it. It’s got a wide flavor spectrum. At one end you’ve got the herbs, moving to the citrus and then even tropical flavors. The flavor profiles are lovely and they go so well with so many kinds of foods—Asian, Indian and Middle Eastern. People tell me it’s the wine they want to sip while sitting on the deck in the sun.”
    “From a food viewpoint it’s impossible to beat,” said Randy Mason of Mason Cellars, who has been making wine since 1972. “When I’m eating I don’t want a lot of oak,” such as one often finds in the California chardonnays.
    Mason said he fell in love with sauvignon blanc in the 1980s when he was winemaker and general manager at Lakespring Winery in Yountville. “My philosophy always was I wanted to make a wine that tastes good. Wine is often an acquired taste, and it shouldn’t be. I was trying to find a wine that has a good mouth feel from beginning to end. The grape has a lot to give.”
    “We want to be the sauvignon blanc house,” he said. Mason’s sauvignon blancs are not only unpretentious and appealing, they are surprisingly affordable. His Pomelo, sourced from grapes in Lake County, retails for $10. The fresh bright Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc is $16.
    Mason has also introduced a Mason 2005 Reserve Sonoma Sauvignon Blanc, made from grapes grown in the Russian River appellation—a special wine made from fruit harvested in a 34-year-old vineyard and aged in stainless steel barrels—a rich, satiny wine with great acid, perfumy nose and wonderfully long grapefruity finish.
    Today marvelous options abound for those in quest of local sauvignon blancs. From Napa Valley, not to be overlooked are the classics from Mondavi and Grgich, still called fumé blanc, as well as the Cakebread Sauvignon Blanc. In Sonoma County, Matanzas Creek winemaker Francois Cordesse blends in about 12 percent of a sauvignon musque grape, a cousin to sauvignon blanc, to create a bright, elegant, citrusy wine—distinctly different from the grassier sauvignon blancs—that retails for around $20.
    One of the best bargains is the sauvignon blanc from Robert Pepi, which retails for about $11. Bottled with a screw cap because “cutting edge wines deserve cutting edge closures” the company says, Pepi is sourced from the cool coastal vineyards of California. Winemaker Patrick Pickett said he strives for a fresh, crisp, clean wine that’s light-bodied and refreshing, “a bottle of wine perfect for sipping with lunch while enjoying the beautiful spring and summer weather” that lies ahead.

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