Vitis vinifera cultivar. Drawn in the Napa Valley in the fall of 1974. Because Sauvignon Blanc is almost unmistakable for its varietal character, it is a wonderful teacher of both regional character and winemaking style. The variety echoes its red cousin, Cabernet Sauvignon, in tasting of leaves or stalks sooner than of any familiar fruit. Alone among the whites, it tastes so much more of herbs or grasses than berries or apples that, tasting blind, I cannot mistake it for Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, or Semillon more often than once a week. And yet, as specific as its varietal aromas are, Sauvignon Blanc tends to betray its exact origins with persistent variation on the main theme—a bit grassier here than there, an overtone of melon somewhere else—so mistaking Napa for Sonoma or Sonoma for Santa Barbara is at least as rare an event as missing the variety. —Bob Thompson, Notes on a California Cellarbook
$150.00 each.