The results for Sancerre 2009 have been published in Decanter‘s September issue, with the vintage being described by judges as atypical and inconsistent, despite some very attractive, drink-now wines. One critic described it as “a Jekyll and Hyde vintage”, although Loire 2009 as a whole was considered a good year.

Sancerre is known for its terroir and is believed by many to be the world’s best region for Sauvignon Blanc. Herbaceous flavours, lively acidity and a flinty minerality are some of the famous trademarks.

The 2009 vintage was hot, and it was difficult as a result. After bottling it was noted that alcohol was a problem (some over 15% ABV), although the better examples mellowed down with time. The trick was to pick at the optimum point in time, when the desired alcohol level and flavour profile could be achieved. Unfortunately for some, there was no window of opportunity to do this, so grapes were left on the vine for longer than they should have been, impacting on final alcohol levels.

Another criticism was the number of faults. According to one critic, there were only five or six screwcaps among 112 wines, yet in the space of 40 wines they came across five corked wines. One of the replacement bottles was also corked and another was oxidised. I will continue to bang the drum for screwcaps. These kind of wines need to be fresh and that’s what screwcap will bring, whilst drastically reducing the number of corked and oxidised bottles.

Decanter’s piece on this finished by ensuring consumers that there are still good buys out there. This is a low yielding vintage after all, and with so many micro-climates, you can’t tarnish all with the same brush, but they urge consumers to buy with caution.

It was with sheer delight that we discovered our JJ Breton La Clochette Sancerre receive ‘best value’ Sancerre of 2009, earning a truly brilliant 17.5 out of 20 points. That’s a bit of a snip at €14.99.

“Lovely mineral fruit – serious, complex, sleek and long. Powerful and elegant; wears its weight lightly. Terrific.” (17.5/20, ‘Highly recommended’ & ‘Best Value Sancerre of 2009′)

Full article available in Decanter‘s September 2010 issue.

When it comes to quality inexpensive wine, South Africa is hard to beat. The Long Neck range, starting with the Sauvignon Blanc, delivers just that. If you tasted a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc at the same price against this, it may well struggle to hold its own.

To view product page and for more details, click on Long Neck Sauvignon Blanc.

A friend of ours dropped in two bottles of Slovenian wine before Christmas. He’d travelled there quite a bit on business and was enjoying bringing different wines home.

This is the first, the Jeruzalem Ormož Sauvignon Blanc 2004, from the town of Ormož in Slovenia. Now, intrigued as I was by my first taste of Slovenian wine, I was equally intrigued at how a 5-6 year old Sauvignon would fare up, as it’s not a grape renowned for its ageing capacity. I think this was definitely past its best, but it was still a very tasty drop!

I should get into the red this weekend, so I’ll let you know how I get on with that.

Thanks Jim!

“Blue skies, green grass and cold water”. That was the vision of Brent Marris, head winemaker at The Ned. His aim was to produce a Sauvignon Blanc that would reflect what New Zealand is all about. Well Brent… job done!

To view product page and for more details, click on The Ned Sauvignon Blanc.

At €13 you’re competing with Sauvignon  Blanc from New Zealand, so the Spanish Castelo de Medina is not one that many will automatically reach for. It needs a little push. Unfortunately a lot of people don’t take Spain seriously enough as a white wine producing nation (my opinion being largely based on conversations with our customers) and it’s such a shame. Check out the Albarino grape variety if you need convincing.

The New Zealand style of Sauvignon Blanc is very appealing, but other countries can offer slightly different styles (often more restrained) that can still compete on the same level. The Decanter medal winning Elgin Sauvignon Blanc (out of stock for an obvious reason) is a good example, but the Castelo de Medina is actually not dissimilar to a Marlborough Sauvignon – very aromatic with those pronounced gooseberry characteristics.

Located north west of Madrid and just south west of the mythical Ribera del Duero red wine region, lies the hugely successful wine appellation of Rueda. This is arguably Spain’s leading white wine region, with production dating back to the 11th century.

The 10th century saw the region war torn by the Moors, before Alfonso XI saved it from complete destruction, declaring that anyone working on the land would gain ownership of it. In came monastic orders, and commercial wine production began in earnest.

The most popular grape variety is Verdejo, which produces a classic Spanish white wine of unique character, although Sauvignon Blanc and Viura are becoming increasingly popular. Interestingly, the Verdejo grape is not grown extensively elsewhere in Spain.

As a region hailed for its Verdejo, my advice is to watch out for its Sauvignon Blanc as well. I’ve been very impressed with the Castelo de Medina and I would encourage any lover of good Sauvignon to give Rueda a shot.

Yes, it’s about two months too late, but better late than never. Our Domaine Pre Baron Sauvignon Blanc from Touraine was recommended by Tim Atkin on BBC’s Saturday Morning Kitchen back in August.

I’d completely forgotten about it, until one of the girls brought a bottle along to the Bandon Wine Club last week, which, unbeknown to me, she’d picked up from us earlier that day (Curious Mike was manning the shop at the time). It was a blind tasting and the Pre Baron was the first of the night.

It didn’t take me long to decipher its origin. I hadn’t realised it was the Pre Baron, but after my stint in Loire Valley during the summer, I had a fairly confident guess that it was a Sauvignon Blanc from that region. I was fortunate enough to visit the winery, just outside the village of Oisly – an absolutely gorgeous spot.

You may be familiar with the better known Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé Sauvignon Blanc of Loire, but Touraine offers superb alternatives, and usually at lower prices. Touraine Sauvignon is typically light, elegant, and a bit riper in flavour than the Sauvignon from the Upper Loire.

The Pre Baron has prominent grassy, gooseberry aromas on the nose, with salivating acidity and plenty of refreshing citrusy characters that dominate the palate. Enjoy young, as in drink within three years of vintage. You certainly don’t have to be young yourself to enjoy this one.

Click here and scroll down to view all posts of my week in Loire Valley (includes a ghastly video).

After the success of Chardonnay in the 90′s, Sauvignon Blanc took over the reigns and led us well into the new millennium, with its like-ability and accessibility, which seems impossible to shake almost a decade later.

Sauvignon Blanc is an aromatic white grape variety, producing wines that usually display strong aromas of green fruit and vegetation (gooseberry, elderflower, green bell pepper, asparagus). They are generally high in mouth-watering acidity and almost always dry.

Loire valley in France is considered to be one of the worlds premium regions for Sauvignon Blanc. Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé are regarded as producing the regions best. The cool climate results in dry white wines with high acidity, green fruit, moderate or prominent vegetal flavours, and often a hint of smokiness. Bordeaux tends to blend Sauvignon with Semillon, adding body and sustaining the citrus fruit character.

New Zealand is a country that put a new spin on Sauvignon Blanc in the 1980′s, the infamous Cloudy Bay deserving much credit for introducing the world to an incredibly expressive and fruit driven style from this varietal. Intense, clean and pungent are appropriate words to use for these medium-bodied, racy bombshells.

Sauvignon Blanc does not usually have contact with oak during production, in order to preserve those fresh, crisp flavours. It is a great match for seafood because of its high acidity, and although it can keep for some time, it is best consumed within three years of the vintage.

Chile and South Africa is known for making Sauvignon that is very keenly priced, such as the organic Sierra Grande from Chile and the South African Long Neck.

A step up will take you to New Zealand, with plenty of superior quality Sauvignon to choose from, and for something a little special, check out Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé.

Mention the name Cloudy Bay and you’re in the company of Bugati, Mont Blanc, Gucci and all such prized possessions around the world. It’s been the trailblazer for New Zealand and can claim buckets of credit for putting this tiny winemaking nation on the map. For many, Cloudy Bay is the first word in top class Sauvignon Blanc.

Well we’re about to risk our reputation and throw down the gauntlet. Because, in case you didn’t know it, there have been big changes at Cloudy Bay over the years. The much-reputed winemaker and viticulturist who both spent decades at the winery have moved on to new paths and, quite frankly, we think it’s showing.

Cloudy Bay is a highly oiled, international brand today; and good on those Kiwis for getting it to the world stage. Of course, such is the kudos of, and insatiable appetite for this brand, that more and more Sauvignon Blanc is being produced. However, price is a major barrier. It is, as the French would say, astronomique. I mean €30 for a bottle of Sauvi – can that be all that savvy?

Perhaps it’s an ownership thing – it is today owned by the giant French multinational luxury goods firm LMVH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy), so perhaps there’s a luxurious profit required too?

One of the previous masters from Cloudy Bay is now quietly crafting his skills in another sublime Sauvignon Blanc on our shelves. That chap is Frank Manifold, an unassuming genius of Sauvignon Blanc winemaking who spent years with Cloudy Bay and, as the production giant grew, knew his calling was in a new home; a boutique label that would allow him to weave his magic without the formulaic restraints of a commercial giant.

You may know the name of his new home, Waipara Springs, from the tiny snowcapped region of Waipara, which just happens to be the fastest growing wine region in New Zealand. Waipara Springs are the oldest kids on the block – small, family owned, and now winning accolades left right and centre. They offered the freedom for a winemaker to reveal all the miraculous layers that live in their limestone rich vines. Frank Manifold loved their philosophy and loved their soils even more, and a miraculous marriage was born.

Now although they’d never reveal their cards, there’s probably more than 500,000 bottles of Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc rolling off the bottling line each year. In Waipara Springs’ case we’re talking minuscule numbers – they’re the Bugati winemakers of New Zealand, producing just 5,000 cases a year and with no wish to leap any way too far beyond that number. It unashamedly translates to handcrafted, allowing them to coax that extra special something out of the vines and take the greatest care in everything they do. We think it shows in a delicious range now landed in Ireland.

We now have the Waipara Springs 2008 Sauvignon Blanc in our Wine Warehouse, the first wine created by an ex Cloudy Bay talent. At our New Zealand tasting it wowed the crowd. And not that we need the reinforcement, but the current Wine Spectator Magazine (one of the lead authorities in wine buying in the U.S.) gave it a whopping 89 points, saying of it ‘Bright and juicy, with dazzling grapefruit and pineapple flavours, a wine with real polish’.

Just as its national team awoke as a sleeping giant of international football last summer, Spain has its own sleeping giants in wine terms. Most famous for the red wines of Rioja or the bubbly Cava of Cataluña, Spain is showing internationally that it’s much more than just one or two superstars.

For much of the 20th century Rueda was better known for its fortified wines from the Palomino grape, similar in style to the Sherry produced much further south in Spain. All this changed in the 1970s however, when Marqués de Riscal of Rioja spotted the potential in Rueda’s other dominate grape variety Verdejo. Today, Verdejo, along with another Spanish native Macabeo and the more internationally renowned Sauvignon Blanc, has elevated Rueda from the local Sunday League to an accomplished star of international renown.

For its part, Verdejo produces aromatic and herbaceous wines, with an ability to age and a hint of nuttiness that gives more than a nod to the sherry-style wines traditionally made in the region. It’s also one of a relatively small number of grapes that makes a successful blending partner with Sauvignon Blanc, like Semillon in Bordeaux often softening the edges of the Sauvignon to produce wines of sublime balance and elegance.

Despite the admission of red wines into the Rueda DO in 2002, Rueda, for now, is all about these fresh, characterful and vibrant whites. With good structure and substance, lively acidity, herbaceousness and occasional nuttiness, Rueda’s whites make wonderful complements to a range of foods, from light salads, chicken and seafood to soft cheeses, nuts and richer tapas.

Check-out our eight Rueda superstars, and save 10% as part of our Viva l’España promotion for the month of April.

From the unfashionable and sometimes controversial Riesling to the height of fashion and consumer tastes in the last ten years, this week we turn our attention to perhaps a more contemporary great ‘food wine’, Sauvignon Blanc.

Although quite different in character to Riesling, Sauvignon (as it’s often simply shortened to) shares some critical attributes that make it a successful partner to many different foods. Here’s my top 5.

1. Aroma. One of the most recognisable grape varieties from aroma alone, the strong, piercing nods (variously) to nettles, gooseberries and tropical stone-fruits carry through to a distinctive and often powerful zing in the mouth. This complexity and strength of flavour can work well with shell-fish and salads, provided there’s not too much competition for flavour in the food.

2. Herbaceousness. DNA profiling has revealed that Sauvignon Blanc is a parent of the great Cabernet Sauvignon which perhaps explains their common herby attributes. Herbaceous is the tasting term for leafy or grassy aromas, and when not overdone give a lovely complexity and even savouriness, so again great with salads or other simple vegetable dishes.

3. Zest. I became addicted to the distinctive Sauvignon zest as an accompaniment to the Pacific Rim cuisine of New Zealand when visiting a few years ago. That sharp, citrusy burst is a feature of Sauvignon’s natural acidity, getting the juices going and making a great palate cleanser between bites.

4. Variety. Despite being instantly recognisable so much of the time, different countries and regions produce markedly different styles. From the classy and refined Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé in France’s Loire valley, to the outwardly herbaceous and tropical New Zealanders and the continually improving and self-defining Chileans and South Africans, Sauvignon has sufficient variation of styles to suit different dishes and occasions.

5. And for dessert? Lesser known perhaps is Sauvignon’s ability to make great dessert wines. A key ingredient in Sauternes, botrytised Sauvignon grapes (allowed to rot to concentrate flavour and sweetness) produce some stunning dessert wines on their own, helped again by that huge natural acidity.

So hopefully now you’re a bit more Sauvi savvy. While we wait for the sunshine to return, don’t wait until barbeque season to get some bursting summer sun.

For bargains, check out these crackers from Chile (Sierra Grande and Santa Alicia) under a tenner, and we’ve top quality New Zealand from Tussock in Nelson for under €11 when you buy 2 or more.