Our hosts for the July edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday, the blogosphere’s monthly virtual wine tasting event, are Erin and Michelle of the Canadian wine blog Grape Juice. They selected a very fun and original theme, Today’s Wine Brought To You By The Letter “S”, that takes us back to our childhood and days of watching Sesame Street. They intentionally left this theme vague and up to interpretation. The only requirement was that the word beginning with “S” must be directly related to the bottle(s) of wine selected (i.e. region, varietal, producer, winemaker, etc).

The Wine Peeps had a lot of fun with this theme. We set out to taste several super Sauvignon Blancs for summer. Obviously, our first “S” was the varietal, Sauvignon Blanc. Next, we chose four different Sauvignon Blancs from four different wine regions around the world with the common denominator being that the names of all four producers started with “S”.

We blind-tasted these four wines: the 2007 Seresin Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand; the 2007 St. Supery Sauvignon Blanc from Napa Valley, California; the 2007 Shaw and Smith Sauvignon Blanc from Adelaide Hills, Australia; and the 2007 Snoqualmie Sauvignon Blanc from Columbia Valley, Washington. They all nicely complemented our light summer fare of grilled halibut, wild rice, and steamed broccoli. In fact, Sauvignon Blanc is our favorite summer white varietal whether we are enjoying it with dinner or just sipping it outside on the deck.

While I would not turn down a glass of any of these, the Seresin from New Zealand was the clear favorite of all four of us. In fact, this tasting was the rare occasion when we all ranked the wines exactly the same way.

In order of our favorite to least favorite:

2007 Seresin Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough, New Zealand): Very fruity and sharp nose with aromas of grapefruit and hay. Grapefruit, green bell peppers, and jalapenos come through on the palate. Very spicy with ripping acidity. Crisp, refreshing, and smooth with a nice, long finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 3 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to Buy: Esquin (Seattle), $20; Available elsewhere, $15 to $24

2007 St. Supery Sauvignon Blanc (Napa Valley, California): Aromas and flavors of grapefruit, Granny Smith apples, and apricots. Good complexity and a nice finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 2 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to Buy: Esquin (Seattle), $21; Available elsewhere, $18 to $23

2007 Shaw and Smith Sauvignon Blanc (Adelaide Hills, Australia): Freshly cut grass and citrus fruits come through on both the nose and the palate. Good acidity but a short finish that just trails off.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 3 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to Buy: Esquin (Seattle), $17; Available elsewhere, $15 to $23

2007 Snoqualmie Sauvignon Blanc (Columbia Valley, Washington): Pleasant floral and pear aromas, pear flavors, and some acidity. Decent but definitely the weakest of these four wines.
Quality: 3 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to Buy: Fred Meyer (Seattle), $7.50; Available elsewhere, $9 to $10

Subscribe to Feed (RSS) |