Sauvignon blanc
St. Supéry may have invented Sauvignon Blanc Day in 2010 to call attention to this refreshing, citrusy wine, the event quickly took off and New Zealand has taken over leadership for #SauvBlanc Day, a global, virtual, day-long celebration each year on the first Friday of May, which this year is today, Friday May 7, 2021! Continue reading
With Sauvignon Blanc Day on the horizon, Sue and I thought it would be fun to test our knowledge and to compete and contrast wines from around the world in a blind tasting. Imagine our surprise when in response to our request we received six wines from Terlato, three from NZ Wine Navigator, and three from Brancott to add to samples from Idaho and others! With a dozen to choose from, we selected two wines from the Marlborough region of NZ, one wine each from NZ Wine Navigator and one from Terloto for Sauvignon Blanc Day #1 on April 25 And set aside the rest to choose from for a recent blind testing where
we tasted seven wines from five continents!
It was a warm day in Ojai so instead of paper bags, we wrapped each bottle in foil, used painters tape with sharpie to number them, printed out tasting sheets, made a plate with goat and other cheeses and appetizers including a pesto pasta salad, and away we went! We grabbed them randomly from the ice chest and plopped the on the table for the tasting. Here are our results: Continue reading
Getting ready for tomorrow’s Vouvray twitter tasting with Snooth.com (Weds Aug 6 2014 (5:30pm PST; we’ll be trying two dry wines and two sparkling wines and learning how Chenin Blanc thrives in the region, and the effects of that terroir) made me recall how many great wines from the Loire Valley in France I’ve had the pleasure to meet in the past year or two.
When it comes to white wines of the Loire Valley, people may think of Muscadet which grows along the river closer to the coast or Vouvray’s Chenin Blanc which is further up river.
The Loire River demarcates France’s weather between the northern climate and the south, adding a few degrees of temperature. Spring is cool with frost while during grape harvest months it may have rain. Hot summers are moderated by the Atlantic breezes.
The Loire’s Sauvignon Blanc grows in the Touraine region even further up the Loire Valley. There, under conditions too harsh for other white grapes with high winds and freezing temperatures, its late bud break and early ripening allows it to flourish in the region’s limestone soils.
Tonight’s #wine lineup #sauvignonblanc #Touraine #tastelive pic.twitter.com/Dag6VOdI7C
— Gwendolyn Alley, MA (@ArtPredator) September 17, 2013
Last fall, we gathered at Que Syrah Sue’s and tasted five Sauvignon Blanc from the Touraine region of the Loire Valley in France with the TasteLive crew at a twitter event, and what impressed us most about the group was the range of expression in the wines and the great value , with most of them $15 or less.
Hot on the heels of last month’s Malbec Day and with Chardonnay Day on the last Thursday in May breathing down its neck, in the year long parade of days set aside to celebrate particular wines, Sauvignon Blanc Day is coming up on Friday, May 16, 2013.
Sauvignon Blanc is one of my favorite wines–it’s flexible, affordable, and a great wine with some of my favorite foods like oysters, chevre goat cheese and french bread, ceasar salad, and pesto with pasta. It’s my go to wine, my always in the fridge or on the shelf wine.
When in doubt, I get the sauvignon blanc out!
After participating in a number of industry tastings, I’m a huge fan of Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand-even the ones that feature a fair amount of gooseberry or cat pee.
Living in California, it’s easy to find locally grown Sauvignon Blanc; a favorite of mine is by Adam Tolmach for his winery, Ojai Vineyards. Continue reading
Last month, after a bluebird afternoon on the slopes at Mammoth Mountain, I participated in a fantastic Twitter Wine tasting featuring Steven Kent Wines hosted by The Rafters Restaurant at the Sierra Nevada Resort 202 Old Mammoth Road, Mammoth Lakes, CA. Established in 1967; Rafters was recently reborn as a world class restaurant with a 7000 bottle wine list!
Sommelier Chip Irmish had glasses ready and the wines chilled perfectly for me when I dashed back after a few quick turns on the slopes. Continue reading
It’s Harvest Time in New Zealand and Spring Time in California! Celebrate both with the first Thirsty Girl #TGTaste Twitter Tasting of 2013 set for Wednesday March 27 at 5 pm PST (8 pm EST). You’re invited! Continue reading
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 