Sauv Blanc Season

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Randy Caparoso on April 10, 2008 at 1:11pm

Sounds good... where is Niner SB from? New one for me...

Permalink Reply by Vino Vixen on April 10, 2008 at 2:10pm

Randy, Niner is from Paso Robles, Bootjack Ranch to be specific. I had a couple of clients at a former wine shop i wroked at introduce me to their juice, then visited them back in August. I have to say, Bootjack was one of the most pristinely maintained vineayrds I saw in Paso; it's on the East side, incidentally, but their new tasting facility will be on Heart Hill on the west side, on 46W headed toward the coast.

I got them hooked up with Prestige Wine here in Georgia, they first took off in restaurants, and are now wide open for retail sales, too. Wines range from about $15 retail for the SB to $50 for the Bordeaux blend, Fogcatcher. They make an outstanding $20 Sangiovese, and groovy rose and Barbera too, though I'm not sure if Prestige picked those up yet or not. Merlot and Syrah are also solid, and the Cab Sauv is as good at $25 as any Napa Cab for $25 or more. Cheers- Gina

Permalink Reply by Randy Caparoso on April 10, 2008 at 2:20pm

Good SB from the warmer, east side of Hwy. 29? Well, I'll be. Will definitely look into it -- thanks, Gina. Incidentally, I always did like the Justin's SB, from the cooler, west side. Tons of exotic fruit (passionfruit, mango) and citrusy crispness in that one; also in the price range.

Permalink Reply by Vino Vixen on April 10, 2008 at 2:28pm

I'll be honest with you, the Sauv Blanc is NOT the strongest wine in their portfolio, and personally my least favorite, though certainly passable in the price point, it's clean and lean. The Sangiovese is the real crowd pleaser. I admire the Merlot and Syrah because they are NOT overripe, as one would think they'd be given their "zipcode"...also had a thoroughly delightful Muscat Canelli at Eberle and convinced them to ship Prestige some for me late last fall. I wonder if my old shop still has any? Hailing from the Chesapeake Bay, I was gobsmacked by how perfect it was with Norfolk-style steamed shrimp with garlic and Old Bay...

Permalink Reply by Randy Caparoso on April 10, 2008 at 4:15pm

Of course... it seemed more logical to me that red wine grapes would would respond more positively to Paso Robles' "Westside" terroir. I totally agree with you on Eberle's Muscat Cannelli, btw. Gary Eberle (with whom I've done many wine judgings over the years) has made of fetish of the grape, and he's been an absolute master of it for the past twenty five years (I first ran across his Muscats in the late 1970s). Thanks for the reminder, because these days when I recommend California Muscat I'm more likely to blurt out "St. Supery," which is also nice, but Gary's is so much more delicate, flowery and feminine.

Permalink Reply by Vino Vixen on April 10, 2008 at 2:32pm

Recently ahve been enjoying a couple of South African whites, Rietvallei Sauv Blanc and Neil Joubert Chenin Blanc (great with a scallop crudo). Both are distributed in Georgia by B ig Boat and are under $15. Really digigng the juicy wines of Consilience, too, lipsmacking Grenache Blanc, might be overripe for some, but I confess I like white Rhone varietals, when cultivated domestically, to be fatties....

Permalink Reply by susan holaday on September 12, 2008 at 7:22pm

I've been drinking a South African SB, Beyond Sauvignon Blanc, this summer and enjoying it - it's around $10 retail although I've bought it for less from a wonderful website in our area, BinEndWines, that is basically for consumers and caterers. Wine buying is very easy when all you do is point, click and your order gets delivered free - at least in Boston! They are set up like FIlene's Basement with automatic markdowns every three weeks. The catch is they often sell out before 3 weeks go by since these are bin ends, literally, that they're selling. Bit the choice is pretty varied, across all price ranges, and I've found some good buys.