Is there a problem with Sauvignon Blanc?

If you like Sauvignon Blanc you’re not alone. The best selling white wine in Australia is Oyster Bay’s Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough (NZ), making it the most imported wine as well. But just what accounts for its popularity? Its delineated passionfruit, gooseberry and cut grass flavours offer up a welter of flighty aromas that, along with penetrating acidity, jostle for attention. This might explain it if you find Sauvignon Blanc easy to approach. It might also explain why it especially appeals to consumers new to wine, why it has become such a fashionable grape, and why half of it is consumed standing up.

The sheer assertiveness of Sauvignon Blanc also provides the clue as to why it leaves so many winemakers and professionals cold. For them it is frequently mono-dimensional and they easily tire of it. One British wine writer recently paraphrased Dorothy Parker’s famous line about Katherine Hepburn’s acting ability: Sauvignon Blanc runs the gamut of flavours from A to B, he said. Noted American wine writer and ‘natural’ wine advocate Alice Feiring once notoriously cited Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc as one of the world’s ten most overrated wines, and ‘cat piss’ at that. They are not alone: winemakers and professionals alike variously describe an almost visceral dislike of it: never generous, lacking in seductive texture and hard to match with food, they say. Nor does it age particularly well on its own, rare and pricey exceptions aside. Nonetheless, its relative popularity and speed with which it can be produced – it is best consumed young and does not depend on costly barrel aging – means it is difficult to ignore.

If Sauvignon Blanc so disliked, why is it regarded as a ‘classic’ variety that makes an important contribution to the world of wine? In France it is used as a key blending component in Château d’Yquem and other great sweet wines of Sauternes where its zesty nature melds well with the fatter, richer Semillon. It is also used as a blending partner with Semillon in serious dry, white Bordeaux of Pessac-Léognan where it is aged in oak for texture and complexity. Exceptionally fine Australian equivalents include the Semillon/Sauvignon blends of Cullen, Pierro, Suckfizzle and Cape Mentelle in Margaret River. Its purest expression is found in the Loire Valley, especially in Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, where it benefits from an underlying mineral complexity.

Another clue to Sauvignon Blanc’s status as an important ‘classic’ variety is familial. Not just a parent (with Cabernet Franc) of Cabernet Sauvignon, recent DNA analysis reveals it is a half-sibling of Grüner Veltliner, a full sibling of Chenin Blanc as well as being genetically close to Semillon. These are all important varieties that are worth exploring on their own. Grüners are typically dry with attractive minerally grapefruit and white pepper character, the best of which come from vines cultivated along the Danube in Austria. There are also some excellent Australian expressions worth seeking out. Look for Lark Hill (Canberra) and Hahndorf Hill (Adelaide Hills). Chenin Blanc is a different story altogether. It is one of those varieties that undergoes profound transformation in bottle and produces the great sweet and dry wines of the middle Loire. Look for Huet in Vouvray and Baumard, Closel and Nicolas Joly in Savennières for the dry wines that show honey, straw and apple flavours. Millton of Gisborne (NZ) is also worth seeking out. Chenin is used as a blending partner in Australia for its acid spine but is mostly cultivated in sites that are too warm to show any mystery.

Unrelated to Sauvignon Blanc but which nonetheless shares some of that variety’s attributes and qualities is Verdejo (not to be confused with Verdelho). Widely planted in north-central Spain (especially Rueda), it produces wines that are very aromatic and which retain healthy acidity despite cultivation in warm-to-hot climatic conditions. It is perhaps surprising, then, that Verdejo hasn’t made more of a mark here. That might be about to change with Trentham Estate’s first commercial release Verdejo from Murray-Darling. And not bad either with its floral, almondy character and chalky texture.

Another aromatic variety worth seeking out as an alternative to Sauvignon Blanc is Vermentino. It can produce wines of real quality that are crisp and minerally, of moderate alcohol and sometimes even with sea spray notes. It is thought that Vermentino made its way to Italy and southern France from Madeira via Corsica in the Middle Ages. It has now made its way to Australia. Louisa Rose at Yalumba produces an exceptionally fine expression that is also very reasonably priced and widely available. Look for Yalumba Y Series Vermentino. A more exotic wine from Corsican fruit is made by Ulithorne of McLaren Vale. It is clean and textured, fragrant and fruity with a nutty finish. Available at the cellar door or by mail order.

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