Wine, Wine Lover

Sauvignon Blanc: The Next Big Thing?

Appetite for Wine

Sauvignon Blanc has enjoyed a recent rise in popularity [1]. Although Chardonnay remains undisputed king of the white wine world, Sauvignon Blanc is achieving status as the latest trendy wine. All the cool kids are drinking it! I normally shun trends, but I am completely on board with this one. Sauvignon Blanc is crisp and refreshing; great for a warm summer day. It is food friendly, pairing well with white fish, chicken, pork, grilled vegetables, and salads – basically any light, summery food. And it’s affordable! Whereas Chardonnay can run upwards of $40-50 for a midrange bottle (and hundreds for a Grand Cru White Burgundy), the most expensive Sauvignon Blanc at my local Total Wine & More store, a White Bordeaux, is just $54, with the second most expensive being less than $40 [2]. Good Sauvignon Blanc is available for as little as $8 to $12.

Sauvignon Blanc grows well in wine regions all over the world. It has adapted well to the southern hemisphere, with some of the most award-winning wines coming from New Zealand. This summer, I have enjoyed a “world tour” of Sauvignon Blanc, enjoying examples from France, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, and California. The California wines I’ve had have come from Mendocino, Napa, Sonoma, and Lake Counties, Clarksburg, and San Luis Obispo. Yes, I drank a lot of Sauvignon Blanc this summer!

I have found I prefer California Sauvignon Blanc, with my favorites coming from Mendocino and Napa. However, I recently enjoyed a truly delightful example from Clarksburg. Nestled along the Sacramento River, less than 30 minutes south of the capital city, Clarksburg is a hidden gem of a wine region. The wines are spectacular, and generally substantially less expensive than nearby Napa or Sonoma.

Baron Herzog SBBaron Herzog Sauvignon Blanc 2014 is one of these excellent, affordable wines. It is available at my local BevMo store for $10.99. I found it at Trader Joe’s for just $7.99!

My review, posted on Vivino:

Pale straw color, with aromas of lemon-lime and pineapple. The mouthfeel is light, with lemon/citrus, pineapple, fresh white peach, and tart apple notes. The acidity is bright and crisp, and the finish lingers with zesty citrus, and a hint of sweet elderflower in the back of the throat. A very nice Sauvignon Blanc from California’s Central Valley, and a great value at $8!

If you haven’t tried Sauvignon Blanc in a while, do yourself a favor and get some. Even though the calendar says it’s autumn, the weather still says “summer” here in NorCal. Sauvignon Blanc is a great way to relax and refresh. Cheers!

[1] http://www.iwfs.org/americas/wine-food—friends-1/articles/sauvignon-blanc—better-than-chardonnay-in-wine-food-pairin

[2] http://www.totalwine.com/wine/white-wine/sauvignon-blanc/c/000008?viewall=true&sort=price-desc

Wine

The Other Montepulciano

Appetite for Wine

Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is an Italian varietal that is gaining in popularity in the U.S. Still unknown to many wine drinkers, there are great values to be found.

Not to be confused with Montepulciano the village in Tuscany, famous for its stellar Sangiovese based wines, Montepulciano is itself a varietal grape from the Abruzzo region of Italy. Tuscany is in central Italy, north of Rome, whereas Abruzzo is east of Rome, bordering the Adriatic Sea. Montepulciano, the grape, is noted for its deep, rich color and hearty character. Smooth tannins and relatively low acidity make these wines excellent for every day, yet they are bold and structured enough to complement a variety of foods. Their value pricing is an added bonus.

I’ve only just begun exploring this fantastic wine, and so far have sampled only two. The most recent was a 2013 Villa Rocca, purchased online for $9.99 from Wines Till Sold Out (WTSO.com). Here is what I thought of it:Villa Rocca

Rich and full bodied. Inky purple in the glass with aromas of dark berry, violet, and vanilla. A bit tannic at first, but this softens with time. Concentrated flavors of blackberry, black pepper, and black cherry with an earthy, spicy finish. Best with food; we paired this with Grilled Margherita Sandwiches, and it was a delightful combination. It would be great with pizza and pasta, also.

I look forward to many more Montepulciano d’Abruzzo wines as fall and winter set it. I highly recommend exploring this region of Italy.

naked wines, nakedwines.com

Something About Rutherford

Appetite for Wine

There’s just something about Rutherford. Centrally located in the heart of the Napa Valley, Rutherford is one of 16 sub-appellations within the greater Napa Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA). The Rutherford AVA is noted for intense Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and other varietals (Napa Valley Vintners, 2015).

NapaValleyAppelationMapMy favorite Cabernet Sauvignon comes from the Rutherford AVA. I have found that certain growing regions set the standard for certain varietals. For example, the Willamette Valley is the standard by which I judge Pinot Noir, and the Sierra Foothills AVA, specifically Amador County, produce what I consider to be premier Zinfandel, by which I compare examples from other areas. To be sure, everybody’s preferences are different, but in my opinion, Rutherford Cabernet is the best. How well I like Cabernet from other regions depends on how closely they resemble Rutherford.

The Rutherford AVA is noted for its legendary Rutherford Dust. The term is often credited to André Tchelistcheff, former winemaker at Beaulieu Vineyards (Swan, 2011). According to Andy Backstoffer, who worked with Tchelistscheff, the term refers to the terroir of the AVA.

When Tchelistcheff said, “The wines must have Rutherford dust in them,” he did not mean they had to taste of dust. “André meant they needed to taste like they came from Rutherford’s vineyards,” Beckstoffer explained. Tchelistcheff was talking about terroir. (Swan, 2011).

Terroir is the influence the climate, soil, and terrain on a wine (Puckette, 2013). The concept of terroir is a bit nebulous, since the word is French in origin and has no direct translation into English (Balik, 2012). However, it is that terroir that gives wines from a certain region or appellation its distinctive profile and taste. Such it is with Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon, for me.

Napa Cabernet, in general, and Rutherford specifically, tends to be pretty pricey in comparison to that of other regions. A recent search of the Total Wine & More website revealed the lowest priced Rutherford Cabernet was BV Rutherford Cabernet at $24.49 for a 750 ml bottle. The highest price was Inglenook (Niebaum-Coppola) Rubicon, 2009, for $199.99. Compare this to Cabernet from the Central Coast (California) region, for as low as $7.97 for the same sized bottle, from Cupcake. I’ve never tried this one, and frankly doubt I ever will, but I’d bet there’s more than a little difference in quality and taste.  Not to suggest that Central Coast Cabernet is bad, but the fruit from which it is made is less expensive. Feel free to draw your own conclusions.

Speaking of the cost of fruit, one of the reasons Napa and Rutherford Cabernet is more expensive is that the grapes from that region fetch a higher price. In 2013, Cabernet Sauvignon from District 11, generally southeastern Sacramento County and northern San Joaquin County (e.g. Lodi), sold for an average $709 per ton. Compare this to District 4, Napa County Cabernet grapes, which sold for an average of $5,499 per ton (Adams, 2014), nearly 8x the price!mediumCutout

I’ve said before that my wheelhouse for wine is $10-18, with $25-35 for special occasions. Suffice it to say, I don’t get to enjoy as much Rutherford Cabernet as I’d like. When I do indulge, it’s usually on the lower end of the spectrum, such as it is. I’ve tasted more expensive brands at wineries, but Beaulieu Vineyards and Provenance are usually what I buy, but as a Naked Wines Angel, I also have access to a new release from Matt Parish.  At Angel price, this sells for $29.99, and it is as good a Rutherford Cabernet as any I’ve tried – even in the $80-100 range. It’s a very small lot, so the two bottles I bought recently are probably all I will get of the current, 2013 vintage. I plan to save one for at least a couple years. In the meantime, hopefully Matt will be able to make more in another vintage. It’s worth the splurge!

Whatever your favorite is, whether its Cabernet Sauvignon from Rutherford AVA, Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir, genuine Bordeaux, or any other wine from any other region, just remember to drink what you like!

Works Cited
Adams, A. (2014, March). Wines and Vines. Retrieved August 18, 2015, from Record California Wine Grape Harvest: http://www.winesandvines.com/template.cfm?section=features&content=129025&ftitle=Record%20California%20Wine%20Grape%20Harvest
Balik, A. R. (2012, July 19). Napa Valley Register. Retrieved August 18, 2015, from Terroir: What does it mean?: http://napavalleyregister.com/lifestyles/food-and-cooking/wine/columnists/allen-balik/terroir-what-does-it-mean/article_593f6df8-d205-11e1-81a6-0019bb2963f4.html
Napa Valley Vintners. (2015). Napa Valley Appellations. Retrieved August 18, 2015, from Napa Valley Vintners: http://www.napavintners.com/napa_valley/appellations.asp
Puckette, M. (2013, November 6). Wine Folly. Retrieved August 18, 2015, from Terroir Definition for Wine: http://winefolly.com/tutorial/terroir-definition-for-wine/
Swan, F. (2011, July 14). NorCal Wine. Retrieved August 18, 2015, from What is Rutherford Dust?: http://norcalwine.com/blog/51-general-interest/523-what-is-rutherford-dust
Wine

Appetite for Wine

Appetite for Wine

We enjoy wine. A lot. We are not wine professionals. We hold no certifications; we have no experience in the wine industry. We just enjoy tasting and drinking wine, and exploring wine regions.

Most of the wines we drink are from California, mainly because that is where we live, so when we go wine tasting, that’s what we buy. Nevertheless, we enjoy wines from other states in the U.S., and all over the world. We have an affinity for Spain (Rioja, Cariñena), Italy (Tuscany, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, Barolo), and France (Red Bordeaux, Loire Sauvignon Blanc). We enjoy finding affordable wines from under-rated regions.

Over the years we have tasted several hundred wines, and can only recall a handful that were so bad we could not drink them. (One of those was early in my (Kent) wine journey and I now believe it was corked, but I didn’t know it at the time.) While we have favorites, and prefer big, bold reds, we haven’t met a grape – red or white – that we don’t enjoy in some measure.

Our main format for micro-blogging is Instagram. We are very active there, posting several times per week to share what we’re drinking, and what we’re thinking. Please visit us @appetite_for_wine and @robz_lyfe. If you like what you see, please follow us.

You may also want to follow Kent on Vivino, the wine rating app. He’s consistently rated in the top 140 users in the United States. That’s out of more than 5.5 million users! You can find him here: http://www.vivino.com/users/kent-rey. His Vivino reviews also post to his Twitter feed at https://twitter.com/k1reynolds.

If you’d like to reach us directly, or are interested in having us review your wine (samples gladly accepted), please send an e-mail to appetiteforwine (at) gmail (dot) com. Cheers!

– Kent Reynolds & Robyn Raphael