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Blanc is back on the shelf again
Sauvingnon Blanc almost disappeared
from the supermarket shelves – but now it’s back
TWENTY years ago the UK’s Sauvignon Blanc wines came from
France’s Bordeaux or Loire Valley – they were sometimes
blended with other grape varieties. To-day these wines would
be dismissed as simple.
They did not explode in the mouth or helicopter round the taste
buds. These easy-drinking wines were – with the exception
of Sancerre and Pouilly Fume – cheap. During the 1990s
Sauvignon Blanc almost disappeared from the wine shelves. Chardonnay
ruled.
Now Sauvignon Blanc is back and is promoted as a top-class premium
wine, bursting with flavour and can cost you serious money.
How did this transformation happen? The story begins in Australia,
in 1985. There, successful Australian wine marketing man David
Honen was introduced to some Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc.
Impressed, he went to New Zealand’s Marlborough Region,
brought some land and hired a local wine maker. A wine legend,
the hard to get and expensive, Cloudy Bay, Sauvignon Blanc was
born. Soon English wine writers already involved tithe the promotion
of Australian wines were singing its praises.
Australia and the UK wanted more, New Zealand was on the wine-making
map and Sauvignon Blanc was on it’s way back. Other countries
notably, Argentina, South Africa and Chile – a country
which had a tradition of producing Sauvignon for local consumption
– were quick to join in. Their wines are cheap but all
New Zealand wines continue to cost unreasonably high prices.
We chose three New World Sauvignon Blanc wines and invited six
members of our panel round to drink them.
• Jackson Estate Sauvignon Blanc Marborough Region. New
Zealand 2005. Waitrose, £8.99. 12.5%.
Top-ranking and top-priced New Zealand Sauvignon produced by
a leading family-owned winery. They began making wine in the
1970s and produced around two million bottles this year, –
seventy five per cent of production is Sauvignon Blanc.
The producers claim intense flavour and vibrant fruit, crisp
acidity and a long finish.
• Zonnebloem, Sauvignon Blanc, Western Cape Region. South
Africa, 2005. Oddbins. £5.99. 13%.
A leading and long established South African winemaking company,
now part of South African drinks giant, The Distell group. The
image and taste of this wine has been recently revamped in order
to appeal to a younger market.
It’s a medium bodied Sauvignon and claims the usual international
white wine taste of tropical fruits, this time with a hint of
green pepper.
• Canto de Flora, Sauvignon Blanc. Lontue Valley. Chile.
£2.99.
Morrison’s.12.5%.
Made by the Errazuriz Ovalle Company, (EOV), a family company
founded in 1994 – by 2004 production had risen to seven
million bottles per year – mainly for export.
A zingy fresh wine with tropical fruit flavours and a citrus
finish.
The Panel members Verdict:
Taste-wise there was only one wine on the table – The New
Zealand, Jackson estate. All six panel members were overwhelmed
by the powerful prominence of its lemon and lime taste. Unfortunately
five of them didn’t like it.
The odd person out was Ana from Poland. This was the best wine
she had tasted since coming to London three years ago, she said.
Ana’s dad is a legendary small scale Polish winemaker.
She grew up surrounded by bottles of wine. When the wind blew
vines tapped on her bedroom window.
Her father’s wines are simply made but taste substantial
and by UK standards are extremely sweet. She has not been impressed
by the wines we have presented on previous occasions.
The winning wine was the Chilean Sauvignon Blanc, Canto de Flora,
costing only £2.99. The majority chose this as the least
unpleasant of the three wines.
And Finally.
Most wine columns encourage their readers to trade up. Why?
Supermarkets like to offer a range of keenly priced products.
The sensible shopper looks for the bargains – nowadays
these are prominently displayed.
However for wine drinkers there is another source of bargain
wines – the lowest shelves of the wine aisles. At present
the best bargains are European. One such bargain is Sol de Espana,
a non-vintage, simple, pleasant white wine, produced by the
Spanish company Felix Solis. Modern production methods have
ironed out much to the traditional wine taste, which many of
today’s wine drinkers find difficult to swallow. It’s
available from Morrison’s, in a 75cl bottle and costs £1.99. |
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