sauvignon blanc

An important white grape variety originally from Bordeaux and the Loire Valley, now also at home in almost all overseas wine countries. It thrives in the gravelly soils of Bordeaux and is blended with Sémillon to produce fresh, dry, crisp Bordeaux Blancs as well as the more prestigious Cru Classé White Graves. It is also blended with Sémillon, albeit in smaller proportions, to produce the great sweet wines of Sauternes.

In the Loire Valley, and especially on the well-drained, chalky soils of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, it produces bone-dry, highly aromatic, racy wines with grassy and sometimes smoky aromas reminiscent of flint.

In New Zealand, Cloudy Bay began producing stunning Sauvignon Blanc wines in the 1980s with exceptionally intense nettle, gooseberry and asparagus fruit that put Marlborough firmly on the world wine map. Today, many producers rival Cloudy Bay for quality and Sauvignon Blanc is now New Zealand’s signature grape.

It is now also grown very successfully in Chile, producing wines that are almost halfway between the Loire and New Zealand in terms of fruit character. Many South African growers are also producing wonderfully fruity Sauvignon Blancs.