Wine Grapes: Sauvignon Blanc

There are three distinct flavor profiles and styles that one will recognize when tasting Sauvignon Blanc. The fruity style, which often has no oak influence, boasts loads of citrus fruit, particularly grapefruit, lemon, melon and gooseberry that explode on the palate and in the aromas. The second flavor category is that of grassiness. Sauvignon Blanc, no matter where it is grown, often contains aromas and flavors of freshly cut grass or herbal notes. When produced properly, these are amazingly delicious and alluring flavors which complement the citrus fruit beautifully. The final style is primarily produced in California where some producers have opted to age Sauvignon Blanc in oak, integrating a creamier style of white wine with hints of smoke and vanilla. These are often labeled Fumé Blanc, which is a marketing name created to increase the sales of Sauvignon Blanc in California a number of years ago. Oak influence often lowers the crispness and zest of Sauvignon Blanc but creates a wine which is more similar to Chardonnay in style.

Sauvignon Blanc is used a great deal throughout France but truly thrives in the Loire Valley. It is used as the primary grape to produce the exquisite white wines, Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé. Separated by the Loire River, these appellations produce whites with lovely acidity and are to be consumed fresh and young. It is also the white grape used to produce the lovely whites of Bordeaux. Sauvignon Blanc is planted primarily in Graves and is usually blended with Sémillon to add further complexity and body. Within Graves, a number of the upper end Sauvignon Blancs, produced in the prestigious Pessac-Léognan, are made in a creamy, complex style which are capable of aging but can also be consumed when young and fresh.

The Sauvignon Blanc grape traces its origins to western France in the Loire Valley and Bordeaux Regions. As noted above, it is not clear that the vine originated in western France. Ongoing research suggests it may have descended from savagnin. It has also been associated with the carmenere family. At some point in the 18th century, the vine paired with Cabernet Franc to parent the Cabernet Sauvignon vine in Bordeaux. In the 19th century, plantings in Bordeaux were often interspersed with Sauvignon vert (In Chile, known as Sauvignonasse) as well as the Sauvignon Blanc pink mutation Sauvignon Gris. Prior to the phylloxera epidemic, the insect plague which devastated French vineyards in the 19th century, these interspersed cuttings were transported to Chile where the field blends are still common today. Despite the similarity in names, Sauvignon Blanc has no known relation to the Sauvignon Rosé mutation found in the Loire Valley of France.