“Aromatic and fruity white wines come out in the Summer.  You see them everywhere,” says winemaker Rob Takigawa from the Tangent Wine Company in California’s Edna Valley.   He should know.  His fresh, easy to enjoy, Sauvignon Blanc is a popular example.

A chameleon grape, Sauvignon Blanc can be made in a range of styles driven by local growing conditions, winemaking tradition, and consumer taste. The grape of the Loire Valley (Sancerre) and Bordeaux, it also thrives in New Zealand, Chile, South Africa, and California. 

There’s an SB for every taste, occasion, and budget.  Trying wines from around the world is a pleasure-filled journey.  You’ll find that winemakers are taking a quality approach to this grape: carefully selecting vineyard sites, farming for the best flavors, and fermenting with extra care. 

At Tangent, for instance, Takigawa cold-soaks his grapes before fermentation to extract vivid tropical fruit flavors and then balances them with a sharp, juicy acidity. His SB ($17) has the popular gooseberry-grapefruit nose and razor sharp finish of the New Zealand style but is a step back from its more aggressive approach.  It’s a great sipper — ideal with beachy seafood.    

Anthony Beckman at Balletto Vineyards in Sonoma takes the opposite approach. He harvests his Russian River vineyards in the cool night air and rushes the grapes to fermentation before the sun rises.  His Sauvignon Blanc ($20) is more restrained, but given time in the glass it will blossom into a full-bodied, complex (if less-flashy) wine — more in the Bordeaux style.  At first the wine doesn’t have much showy SB character, but get to know it, and you’ll be rewarded.

Sauvignon Blanc is having a moment.  Sales in The United States are  growing with double digit gains in the last few years. It’s particularly strong in the under $13 category. 

Frankly, SB has always been in many minds (including mine) an inexpensive quaff, neither requiring nor demanding much attention. Just drink it and be refreshed. When delicious Sancerre, with its French cachet, got hot a few years ago, the price skyrocketed. 

Winemakers around the world paid attention and started making more interesting examples.  Of course, the cost went up. It’s still a great bargain, but be ready to pay between $15 and $20 for some of the best efforts.

Linda Trotta knows how to make a popular mass-market wine. She’s head of North Coast Winemaking for the ubiquitous Bread and Butter label.  For her Sauvignon Blanc ($18) she held back on the rich oak flavors and buttery malolactic fermentation so popular in her chardonnay to make a SB with a “round, soft, juicy finish.” Made with Sonoma and Lake County grapes, it’s a wine in between the racy Tangent and the expressive Balletto. 

Silver Spur Sauvignon Blanc ($18) is another wine from Trotta’s portfolio. It’s made from a single vineyard in the Big Valley AVA of Lake County.  The climate there is like a high desert, with a big shift in temperature from day to night creating the natural acidity that sets Sauvignon Blanc apart. 

All the winemakers agree that a significant daily diurnal temperature shift — cool nights and warm afternoons — is necessary for quality Sauvignon Blanc.  It can be found inland in places like Lake County but more often along the coast.  

In the Edna Valley where Tangent grows its grapes, in the Santa Lucia Highlands (just south of Salinas) home of the Hahn winery, and in Balletto’s Russian River Valley the morning fog doesn’t lift till mid-day.  Where these conditions are right, the fruit is slow to ripen. SB is often the last vineyard picked, usually not until late September. 

I’ve often wondered why Americans don’t drink more sparkling wine. I’m not talking about special-occasion Champagne but everyday bubbly. In Europe it’s common. A server asks, “red, white, or sparkling?” for a wine by the glass order. There’s plenty of good-quality reasonably-priced sparkling wine available just waiting for us to wake up to its pleasures. 

In South Africa, the Steenberg winery in the Constantina Valley is producing a delightful sparkling Sauvignon Blanc ($17). Winemaker Elunda Basson who makes five still SBs across the quality spectrum, is one of the few in the world to make it bubbly too. The fruit-driven, easy-drinking wine is popular with young consumers.  A balanced wine with peach, melon, and apple flavors it’s “summery and enjoyable.”

photo credit Winter Caplanson of Connecticut Food and Farm

Any Sauvignon Blanc is great with seafood. For a special treat, try it with a slightly aged goat cheese. Laura Downey of Fairfield Cheese recommends Sofia from Capriole.  It’s made in Indiana in the tradition of the Loire Valley and according to Downey is, “some of the best goat cheese in the world”.  

I’ve just scratched the surface of Sauvignon Blanc, but I’m looking forward to a summer of tasting more of these fragrant, delicious, and refreshing wines.  

Frank Whitman can be reached at NotBreadAloneFW@gmail.com.