![](https://okanaganlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/July-August-2008-okanagan-life.jpg)
Sauvignon Blanc: white magic
![sauvingnon-blanc-white-magic](https://okanaganlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/sauvingnon-blanc-white-magic-294x400.jpg)
Stand-alone or boosting a blend, this unforgettable character loves good food and makes good times
Freshly, lively, food-friendly Sauvignon Blanc is among the most instantly recognizable varietals. It flaunts piercing aromas of gooseberry, cut grass, asparagus, flowering currant, green pepper, nettles—and even cat’s pee. This cool climate grape reaches its apex of aromatic intensity and zesty crispness in France’s Loire Valley (showing a minerally, flinty, smoky, lemony character in Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé) and in New Zealand (often bursting with ripe tropical fruit flavours in wines of the South Island’s Marlborough region).
In Bordeaux, it is traditionally blended with Sémillon to make less intense whites to go with local fruit de mers, and also sweet, botrytised dessert wine. Use of oak is the exception. Examples of oak aged Sauvignon Blanc include white Graves, a Sémillon blend, and Fumé Blanc, a name invented by Robert Mondavi for oak style Sauvignon Blanc.
Quick facts
- Coined in California in 1981, the term Meritage (pronounced like heritage) is the trademark for wines blended from traditional Bordeaux varieties
- White Meritage is made by blending two or more of Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon and Sauvignon Vert
- Chile’s Casablanca region and South Africa’s Cape region are successful Sauvignon Blanc producers
Best way to enjoy
Food pairings: Loire style with goat’s cheese, asparagus quiche, salad, light fish, oysters; New Zealand style with flavourful seafood, vegetables, pork (slightly sweet and cooked with spices) and Meritage with richly sauced fish dishes, lobster
Temperature: 6-8 C
Type of glass: tulip-shaped wine glass
Read more of the original stories celebrated in our 30th-anniversary issue.
Dance in the new year in West Kelowna
Dance in the new year to the sounds of the big band, The Uptown 10, at West Kelowna's Holiday Inn. The evening promising stunning sounds and a scrumptious supper. So don your mask and join the New Year's Eve 2018 Masquerade Party. With over 300 years of combined...
IH expands fight against meningococcal outbreak
Interior Health has expanded its effort to protect young people against a meningococcal disease outbreak.
BC wineries uncork legal arguments
A case that will determine whether wines can be sold across provincial borders is expected to be decided next year.
Side hustle to main hustle
It’s 8:30 a.m. and my bathroom vent is dripping. Pyjama-clad and bleary eyed, I watch the steady drip, drip from our dusty silver vent, each drop sharply slapping the soaked towel on the bathroom counter. It’s clear that something is leaking and that it isn’t going to...
Rally team claims victory at Big White Winter Rally
Subaru Rally Team Canada (SRTC) closed out the 2017 Canadian Rally Championship (CRC) season on a high note, claiming victory at the Big White Winter Rally. Led by driver Antoine L'Estage and co-driver Alan Ockwell, SRTC led from start to finish yet again, adding...
Tim Hortons delivers over 29,000 smiles for YMCA Kids
The smiles are in. Tim Hortons restaurants in the Central Okanagan raised $29,091 from their annual Smile Cookie Campaign with 100% of the proceeds donated to the YMCA of Okanagan. The campaign, which ran for one week in September, saw thousands of Tim Hortons...