Spring is in the air everywhere signaling that it’s time for Sauvignon Blanc with Sauvignon Blanc Day coming up each year on the first Friday of the month of May, and celebrated with events all weekend all over the world! We have two days of wines and pairings, with four wines from around the world tomorrow, and today, two from Sonoma’s Chalk Hill which is celebrating over 50 years of wine making, including iconic Sauvignon Blanc! 

At Chalk Hill Estate Vineyards and Winery, after a wild wet winter and soggy spring, you’ll find vibrant green growth throughout their 1,300 acre Sonoma estate with 314 acres of California Certified Sustainable vineyards and over four acres of organic culinary gardens with fresh herbs, fruits, and vegetables to inspire Chalk Hill Estate Chef Alec Graham’s garden-to-table menus paired with estate wines. With their Chalk Hill Sauvignon Blanc, he suggests Grilled Nectarines with Chive oil, Thyme and Chèvre (recipe below for when stone fruit is in season!). 

I was inspired by a beautiful halibut fillet I found at the Fisherman’s Market from Kat the Fish Lady and by my abundant nasturtiums which Sue made into pesto which she served on cannelloni beans. We also enjoyed some of our favorite Sauvignon Blanc pairings: goat cheese whether as gouda from Old Amsterdam or as fresh bright chèvre plus oysters and Ceasar salad with anchovies. Fun to compare the two with these pairings!

Menu 

• Old Amstedam goat cheese gouda (sample)
• goat cheese chèvre
• sourdough bread
• oysters
• ceasar salad
• halibut with pesto on cannellini beans 

2021 Chalk Hill Sauvignon Blanc

ABV: 14.5%
SRP: $38
Grapes: Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris
sample for my review

The 2021 vintage was warmer than average with low rainfall leading to early bud-break and full ripening. Sauvignon Gris adds aromatic lift, depth, and flinty minerality. 

Appearance:  Super ultra pale yellow.

Aroma: Gooseberry, jalapeno pepper, key lime, kiwi, gooseberry without being cat pee, carnation, coriander, cinnamon, cardamon, flinty sulphuric minerals. 

Palate: Lemon lime, slight bit of unripened gooseberry, big acidity, it tastes a bit closed in, a bit harsh on the finish, with present oak. 

Pairing: Very clean, a very clean nice pairing bringing out the freshness in the wine and the oysters both.  Loves the garlic in the pesto, loves the creamy beans and the spices in the blackened halibut. People should know about and seek out this meal with this wine.  Halibut can be a bland meat but becomes elevated with all of the spices in the meal. The lovely salad is a perfect partner to the meal and works beautiful with the wine.  

2021 Chalk Hill Sauvignon Blanc Windy Ridge

ABV: 14.5%
SRP: $52
Grapes: Sauvignon Blanc
sample for my review

Made from 100% Clone 378 Sauvignon Blanc, the 2021 Chalk Hill Estate Windy Ridge Sauvignon Blanc comes from a single block at 630 feet and featuring well drained, rocky soils that offer aromatics and tropical flavors from the warmer vintage of 2021. 250 cases made.

Appearance:  Very pale yellow, beautiful lemon.

Aroma: Everything on the nose is subtle yet it is there and engaging, fennel, lemons, lime, bee pollen, cardamon, grassy knolls; it hits all the marks with wood and florals and herbs. 

Palate: Lemon, fennel, clean, fresh, nice lengthy finish of minerality, fennel pollen and fruit, I like how the nose and the palate integrate which does not happen very often in a wine and is a special experience. They are not exactly the same but they integrate with each other nicely. 

Pairing: While the wine was fine with the oysters, it did not have the spectacular marriage  that some do. It was very peachy on the finish. The creamy richness of the pesto and the beans are cut by the wine. Both the meal and the wine enhance each other perfectly. The Ceasar was nice with the wine, working well with the creamy richness of the salad.