Sauvignon Blanc: white magic
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.
Kelowna Reaches New Heights
The skyline of the city of Kelowna is changing. Construction cranes can be seen perched precariously on the skeletal structures of steel and concrete at several locations.
Okanagan Dry: Where will the water come from
It’s –8°C outside, snow covers the ground and the forecast is for temperatures to drop to the –20°C range. Okanagan Lake steams in the cold air and its surface seems to shiver with the gusts carving cat’s paws on the black water. There is nothing here that suggests global warming or water shortages or seasonal drought.
The Icewine revolution
Jackson-Triggs, Hainle, and Inniskillin resurrected the nectar of winter in the Okanagan. In barely a dozen years, Canadian Icewine has acquired a reputation as one of the world’s great wines.
Tragically Hip’s Downey is a poet and a prancer
Tragically Hip shows always manage to bring the house to their feet dancing. The Hip’s November 15 appearance at Prospera Place was no different. The crowd, somewhat younger than at previous Hip appearances, was captivated by frontman Gord Downey’s conversational...
Of stone, wood, clay, goddesses, ancestors & sunbathers
Dancing goddesses, serious ancestors, and humorous sunbathers, all in gleaming bronze sparkling in the natural light, are part of a special celebration. It is the 20th anniversary of world-renowned sculptor, Geert Maas, creating and showing his artworks in Canada.
The John Thomson Report
John Thomson’s career as a business writer began here in this publication, on the pages of Okanagan Business magazine. He arrived in Kelowna in 1989
