Ok, let’s be frank for a moment. There’s a well-known grape variety that has dominated the Australian wine market for decades, but which is now being ignored even by members of my cricket team. It retains a huge market share while most serious wine drinkers wouldn’t touch it. Despite that, it’s responsible for some truly stunning wines, but its floor stacks dominate the acres of ordinary wines carried by the discount retailers.
Welcome to the paradox of sauvignon blanc. My team at Oliver’s Wines informs me that this coming Friday is International Sauvignon Blanc Day, so let’s give it a little oxygen. And believe it or not, if you’re one of the many who turn their backs on this grape, permit me to suggest that perhaps you’re missing out on something rather worthwhile.
Yes indeed, there’s a category of sauvignon blanc that I’d rather not put on my fish and chips, let alone drink with them. We all know about that. But here’s where it gets interesting – there’s another group of wines from this variety made for serious wine drinkers.
Some makers recognise that if you just convert sauvignon blanc juice into wine you’re not delivering the complete package. For it needs something else to give it more length, texture and complexity – in other words to make it into a proper wine. So they might introduce another complimentary grape – such as semillon, some gentle oak influence, some extended contact with yeast lees to give creaminess and roundness, or indeed all of the above. Or they might fashion an incredible late-harvest dessert wine using it.
Our store at Oliver’s Wines features a wide stable of these wines, from the spotlessly bright Shaw + Smith to the creamy, textural wine by Ros Ritchie, the trim and focused Pike and Joyce and the stylish and luscious Peccavi from Margaret River.
Check out our choice of top-level sauvignon blancs in our shop today by clicking here.
