Steaming hot day in London about a decade ago. Pop into a gastropub for lunch. Sauvignon blanc. Chilly twilight in Paris a few years ago. Chairs lined up on a sidewalk facing the street. Sauvignon blanc. Standing in my kitchen in November. Just thirsty. Sauvignon blanc. Probably the next time I go out to dinner. As I’m putting my napkin in my lap. Sauvignon blanc.
It is my go-to. It is a lot of people’s go-to, and — duh. Along with being a great match for several foods — and we will get to that — sauvignon blanc is one of the world’s greatest still wine apertifs. Anything dry and fizzy is a natural aperitif, but at times in my life (many times, in fact), when offered the choice of bubbles or sauvignon blanc to begin an evening, I have chosen sauvignon blanc. That is how much I love this aromatic, pleasing palate rouser. It is refreshing, restorative and, in so many instances, effortlessly likable.
Sauvignon blanc never bear hugs you, or grabs you by the shoulders and shakes you. Some versions of it slap you in the mouth, but they do it gently, in a playful way, not with an open hand but with a pair of soft leather gloves.
Usually it is dry and crisp, but beyond that it could range from tangy to tropical. In between it could exhibit minerality, flintiness or herbaceousness. It could be chalky, leafy or grassy. It could offer lemon, lime, apricot, peach, melon, pineapple, passion fruit or gooseberry. Green bell pepper would not be a surprise, nor would a renegade tinge of asparagus. You might notice a little smoke, toast or vanilla. You might even get whiffs of cat pee (not my descriptor, folks — it’s standard nomenclature). With that, though, remember that sometimes even delectable foods throw rank odors.
The sauvignon blanc grape hails from France, either from Bordeaux or the Loire Valley, depending on who is holding forth. While it is important in both regions, the Loire is where it has had its most legendary run of success, particularly in Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume, where the grape is sometimes called blanc fume. Less famously in the Loire, notable sauvignon blanc also comes from Quincy, Reuilly and Menetou-Salon.
To the south, in the Graves region of Bordeaux, sauvignon blanc is often blended with semillon and then aged, or sometimes even fermented, in oak barrels. Whether they touch oak or only stainless steel, most sauvignon blancs are meant to be consumed young and fresh. The grape also does well in northern Italy, particularly in Friuli; and in Chile, most notably in the Casablanca Valley. California? Yes — and in many styles, from steely and zippy to round and luscious. If you see “Fume Blanc” on a label, it’s sauvignon blanc.
Perhaps the most famous wine varietal ever to come out of New Zealand, sauvignon blanc is relatively new in the land down under Down Under. It was first planted in New Zealand in the 1970s, in the now-famous Marlborough region, which sits in the northern tip of the country’s Southern Island. But it wasn’t until the late 1980s or early 1990s that New Zealand’s eye-opening sauvignon blanc grabbed people’s attention on a large scale. It is a typically aromatic grape — that much is a given. But in the hands of the Kiwis it is often the equivalent of a really good scratch and sniff, with clear, surprising and instantly recognizable pink grapefruit jumping from the glass.
Sauvignon blanc seems to grow best in cool climates with lots of sunshine. The wine is just downright refreshing on its own but its high acidity also makes it especially food friendly. Sauvignon blanc and fresh goat cheese — that’s chevre in French — is probably the most storied pairing, with raw oysters a close and worthy second. It is a natural with shellfish, and with a lot of gill fish, too.
I love it with Thai food, something I eat about as often as I change my towels (often enough, OK?). The guidelines for pairing food and wine say that you can either complement or contrast flavors and textures. I often enjoy the cutting zestiness of sauvignon blanc against the rich, sweet-tinged heat of Thai rice-noodle dishes and coconut-milk curries. The wine’s crispness also makes it a nice partner to sushi, and in that case it is more of a commingling of fresh, clean flavors and textures than a contrast.
I would probably always choose sauvignon blanc over a cocktail before a meal, and I would even go beyond that to see if there were something on the menu that would match well with the bottom half of that first glass, or the entire contents of a second glass. It is a green light for me, an easy choice that doesn’t require pause, and a great start to just about any social event involving wine. I’d come up with a nice, pithy ending here but suddenly I’m a little lost in a daydream about when I might next drink a glass of sauvignon blanc.
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