For International Sauvignon Blanc Day, look to the Golden State for bottles that are both splurges and bargains, but all very tasty.
Everyone knows California for its Cabernet Sauvignons, but did you know about its other Sauvignon?
The grape’s spiritual home may be in France (Bordeaux, Loire Valley), but it’s fasting finding footing in the Golden State. Sauvignon Blanc was first planted in California in the Livermore Valley in the 19th century and today is the fourth leading white grape variety in the state, according to the Wine Institute, an advocacy group for the Californian wine industry. After being at a plateau for several years, California producers crushed 160,834 tons of the grape in 2023, a 22.7% increase from 2022, and representing an all-time high since 1990, when the data were first reported.
The 2023 edition of the Silicon Valley Bank’s State of the U.S. Wine Industry Report reported Sauvignon Blanc was the only variety that did not experience a downward trend, instead, increasing in growth by 1.5%. Shanken’s IMPACT Databank, a wine and spirits industry monitor, reported sales of wine made from the zesty grape rose 1.2 percent to 16.6 million cases in 2022.
Having some FOMO because you’re still drinking from elsewhere? Fear not! Here are a few bottles to get you started on International Sauvignon Day.
Arkenstone Estate Reserve 2017, Howell Mountain, Napa Valley. This estate reserve was well worth the trouble I had opening it, chipping away at its wax seal with tools usually used for household repairs. But, once accomplished, it was a deep, rich, opulent wine of honied yellow fruits, savory and uplifted by an herbal undertone. Wild and exotic and very intriguing.
Arkenstone Estate 2020, Howell Mountain, Napa Valley. Considerably easier to open than its wax-topped older sister, but also not as savvy. But this wine will grow into itself. Right now, it’s open and pleasant (like most little sisters), with 6% Sémillon playing nice with the Sauvignon. Straight forward, well balanced, technically well made. Farmed organically.
Brandlin, Mount Veeder 2021, Napa Valley. Ages 11 months in French oak, but doesn’t taste it! A lean version that paired will with smoked shrimp. A generous fruit profile—tropical and pleasing; sophisticated and nuanced. New World vibe, and a danceable beat.
Chalk Hill 2022, Chalk Hill AVA, Russian River Valley (Sonoma). This is a plush, creamy, tropical-inflected New World style with ripe and lush fruit—guava, melon. A winning bottle for those don’t care for the greener styles. Estate bottled.
Cliff Lede 2022, Napa Valley. Lively and carrying the typical zesty SauvyB markers, but this has the roundness from a bit of Sémillon blended in, giving it more of an Old World vine than new. The grapes were sourced from their estate vineyards in Calistoga, Stags Leap District, and Carneros—all known for their elegance and quality—plus grapes sourced from an old-vine vineyard in East Rutherford and another in Calistoga that provided old vine Sémillon. All that is to say, it’s really a perfect blending of Old and New World: nuanced, fresh, a bit deeper and some of that floral, tropical fruit component.
Cormorant 2021, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma. A pretty, creamy, yellow-fruited wine that will please people who do not care for the greener versions, though this does have a lime edge to keep things interesting. Ripe, medium bodied, enjoy this on its own or with roasted branzino or sauced fish.
“Sauvy B” is on the A-List of whites from California
Fiddlehead Cellars La Presa Vineyard 2022, Los Olivos District (Santa Barbara). Warm, creaming and nutty, tropical inflected with sweeter rips, lush juicy fruits, particularly melon. Tangy, zesty and snappy!
Groth Vineyards & Winery 2022, Oakville, Napa Valley. This estate-bottled wine is another successful Sauvignon-driven (89%) blend with Sémillon, this one delivering a freshly picked citrus fruit bowl: pink grapefruit, Clementines and Meyer lemon, along with a basket of stone fruit—nectarine and peaches. Throw in some white florals and a hint of earthy Celtic salt and you’ve got a wine that will satisfy everyone at the table. Despite everything going on in this wine, it is balanced and direct.
Quintessa, “Illumination” 2016. A blend of Napa (64%) and Sonoma county vineyards, this is a bottle from an esteemed producer better known for its Cabs, but that has delivered an exceptional and complex Sauvy B. There’s that New World style tropical fruit vibe of melon and guava, but also ripe peach and, beeswax and a mineral streak that drives it forward and keeps the fruit from getting too blousy. Intriguing and full of layers that keep evolving.
Silver Puffs 2020, California (Napa). Great affordable Tuesday-night wine, on the round and ripe tropical-fruit spectrum with peaches and melons, no aggressive greenness. This is a zesty, pleasant sip names for a California wildflower; grapes sourced from the Miller Ranch vineyard.
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars “Aveta” 2021, Napa Valley. Named for the Gaelic water goddess, this gives plenty of grapefruit, roasted pineapple and other tropical fruits. A bit lactic—you can taste and feel the roundness of the lees—it is pleasing in every way. Round, juicy and full.
The Paring 2021, California. Another smooth, round bottle in with plenty of pineapple, mango. Not sweet-fruited, but ripe and full without losing its balance of fruit, acid and alcohol. Delicious.