Summer White Wines – Sauvignon Blanc

Hot summer months and crisp, cool drinks go hand-in-hand. For white wine enthusiasts, a go-to favorite is Sauvignon Blanc, the widely planted grape with excellent adaptability. (Certainly one of my favorites!) It grows well in a wide range of climates from Bordeaux to California to New Zealand. The varietal profile will range from being lush and full with more tropical fruits to lean, crisp and light with classical grapefruit and herbal notes. While the varietal makes excellent mono varietal wines, it will offer much in white blends.

Preeminent Locations

Sancerre

Located in the Upper Loire, the village of Sancerre is prime territory for Sauvignon Blanc. The cool continental climate helps to create the characteristic racy acidity of the Sancerre wines. Overall, Sancerre is a fuller bodied and highly aromatic white wine. The wines will be bone dry with prominent citrus notes.

Much like Pouilly-Fume, Sancerre is more assertive in its minerality when compared to some other New World regions. While most Sancerre producers avoid malolactic fermentation and oak aging but more and more are experimenting with oak fermentation and oak aging.

Pouilly-Fume

In the Upper Loire across from Sancerre, Pouilly-Fume is also famous for producing some of the most highly regarded Sauvignon Blanc. Much like Sancerre, Pouilly-Fume will have racy acidity and will feature classic mineral notes. The wine will not be as pungent in its grapefruit or grassy as a Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand.

Flavors of the wine lean towards green fruits such as lime and green apple. The most defining characteristic of Pouilly-Fume is the smoky, flinty notes. The soil composition in Pouilly-Fume is really what makes these wines. Limestone and flint being crucial to helping the grapes grow and reach optimal ripeness during the growing season.

Bordeaux

White Bordeaux, as a whole, is lesser focused on Sauvignon Blanc as a single varietal and uses it more in the blending of their white wines but mono-varietal White Bordeaux exist. There are two key regions for the production of White Bordeaux: Entre-deux-Mers and Graves, including Pessac-Leognan. The wines from both regions may oak age but will vary from producer by producer.

• Entre-deux-Mers

Meaning “between two seas”, the AOC sits between the Garonne and Dordogne rivers. While the region also grows red varietals only the white wines will feature the Entre-deux-Mers AOC designation. It’s a region focused primarily on affordable, entry level styles white wines so they’re not overly expensive but will be lower quality.

There are mono varietal Sauvignon Blanc wines and white blends produced in the AOC. For the single varietal whites, expect classic flavors of green apple, grapefruit and citrus notes with a more prominent grassiness but will not be as pungent or assertive as New Zealand. Even the entry level white wines will have higher acidity to them.

The blended white wines will blend Sauvignon Blanc, Semillion and sometimes Muscadelle to produce a richer more complex styles. With the blending the grassiness will not be as prominent with a more honeyed profile starting to take shape. Expect flavors of green apple and lime with some grapefruit. If the wines are oak aged, then you can expect more complexity and weight with a creamier texture.

• Graves

Graves is the other key region for White Bordeauxs. Graves, including Pessac-Leognan, produce some of the most well regarded white wines in the world. Focusing more on blending than mono varietal, Graves white wines will be richer and more complex when compared to Entre-deux-Mers. As a result, prices will be more expensive overall. Flavors and aromas will feature notes of green apple, lemon, lime, grapefruit with a more prominent minerality due to Graves gravelly soil.

The naturally high acidity of these white wines will give them more ageability than most other Sauvignon Blancs. Oak aging will flesh out the wines making them creamier, rich and more complex while further increasing their ageability.

California

Californian Sauvignon Blancs are lusher and more fruit forward with less of a focus on the high acidity. While they will feature the grapefruit and grassiness of the varietal those flavors may not be as prominent. These are more tropically flavored with more melon, pineapple , guava and orange flavors with a light subtle grassiness and grapefruit notes and will be softer and more approachable overall.

Fume Blanc is another style of Californian Sauvignon Blanc that attempts to create a wine similar to Pouilly-Fume. To do this, producers will oak age their Sauvignon Blanc in a way that imparts the smokey, flinty notes that makes Pouilly-Fume so famous.

New Zealand

One of the most famous styles of Sauvignon Blanc and the style most consumers drink. Pungent in its grapefruit and herbal flavors and aromas, these white wines will be crisp and light with lots of fruit and high acidity. The aromas will feature grapefruit and herbaciousness fairly prominently with hints of lime and passionfruit. The flavors will be heavy on the grapefruit and herbal notes with prominent grassiness or a bell pepper note with more subtle notes of passionfruit, lime and citrus notes.

New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs will be high in acidity given their level of fruitiness. They make excellent summery white wines in part to their crisp, refreshing characteristics.

Notable Examples

• Sancerre
  • Pascal Jolivet
  • Didier Dagueneau
  • Christian Salmon
  • Jerome Gueneau
• Pouilly-Fume
  • Pascal Jolivet
  • Didier Dagueneau
  • Ladoucette
• White Bordeaux
  • Entre-deux-Mers
    • Chateau Tour de Bonnet Blanc
    • Chateau Montet
    • Chateau Belingard
    • Cheval Quancard
  • Graves
    • Clos Floridene Blanc
    • Chateau de Chantegrive Cuvee Caroline
    • Liber Pater Blanc
  • Pessac-Leognan
    • Chateau Haut-Brion Blanc
    • Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc
    • Chateau Carbonnieux Blanc
    • Chateau Pape Clement Blanc
    • Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc
• California
  • Merry Edwards
  • Bevan Cellars Dry Stack
  • Mondavi Fume Blanc
  • Dry Creek Vineyard Fume Blanc
  • Martin Ray
  • Courtney Benham
  • Barnett Vineyards
• New Zealand
  • Kim Crawford
  • Kia Ora
  • Nobilis
  • Oyster Bat
  • Cottesbrook
  • Grey Rock
  • Cloudy Bay
  • Staete Landt
  • Craggy Range

As you look for that summer thirst quencher, we hope you can use this blog as a guideline! See anything we missed or something you want covered? Reach out directly to Glen through our Contact page or reply back to this blog. And remember that while a little less fruit forward and crisp, Chardonnays also do well as an afternoon refresher. Also, tune in to The Wine Show for Joe Fattorini’s expert opinions on wine in general, it’s a great learning experience!

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