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Your Thoughts on USA's S. Blancs (need reccomendations)

Hi alt.food.wine:

Lately I'm finding that my grape of choice is sauvignon blanc ("SB"). I like them in many different styles; my personal favorites are ones with grassy and floral notes. I also really like the Kathryn Hall T-Bar-T that has melon undertones. The newer vintages lost the melon unfortunately, and tend more to grapefruit.

I like big acid and grapefruit so long as the nose doesn't smell like stomach acid (cough, Oyster Bay, cough). Because my wife and I are ok with grapefruit notes and acid, I find myself drinking mostly New Zealand SB for consistency and the ability to have a a decent bottle---for my palette---for anywhere from $9.99--20.00 (urban area in Texas).

I've been trying to drink American SBs; but, I haven't had much success in the same price range. The wine is either boring, or needs fruit or cheese to either bring out or mask the wines. I love some of the more expensive bottles, like Cade, the aforementioned Kathryn Hall, and Joseph Phelps' SBs; but, I'm not financially able to spend $30-50 a bottle for drinking at home. We spend more money on our reds, and have difficulty in spending over $20.00 on a bottle of SB. (We're young but have good noses and decent palettes. Yellowtail is the physical manifestation of Satan in a bottle in our opinion. And the moscato craze should be called punch, not wine).

So, my question to you oenophiles:

What are your go-to SBs that come from American-grown grapes? What flavors? What year? Why? What's your typical price and in what region the U.S.? Just trying to get some recommendations on good bottles of American wine. California has me sold on Pinot Noir, big Cabs, and red blends as compared to the rest of the world; but, not so far on SBs.

Thanks in advance for the replies! A votre sante.

Reply to
Jim
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The question you're asking isn't as easy as you might think, Jim. My wife likes SB a lot, too, and we drink quite a bit. For price, it's hard to find wines from CA that compete with those from NZ. St. Supery used to make a very nice example, and Merry Edwards does as well, but the latter isn't cheap at all. In earlier years, Geyser Peak's SB was decent enough, but I haven't tried one in ages.

For better examples from NZ, try Villa Maria, Drylands, Brancott and Giesen. Most of those are quite available in the US.

Mark Lipton

Reply to
Mark Lipton

Thanks for the replies. I'll definitely check out your recommendations Rusty. I think I've had the Brancott before, but not the Cloud Break or Lindemans.

Reply to
Jim

I still don't understand why the American producers can't beat the imported wines considering we have some very very good soil in the states. I guess it comes down to cost of labor being too high.

Agreed on how Cali SBs tend to taste like poor chards. Which is ironic because I'm of the philosophy that an average SB *blows* away an average chard (depending on pairings etc.).

It's a shame really. Our bourbons are extremely complex, our big reds have become quite excellent; but, we can't put together some simple whites. Oh well. :)

Reply to
Anony Mouse 'Jim'

Actually I think the cost of real estate is at least as important. US wineries tend to be on land bought in the last generation or so for expensive California prices. European wineries are often on land that has been in the same family for generations so that even if local real estate prices might be high in principle, the owners don't have to be paying a mortgage on the land.

I think this accounts for some of why our wine is not a particularly good QPR.

Its the acidity. A workmanlike SB will have good acidity to pair with food, whereas a workmanlike US chard will likely not.

Reply to
Doug Anderson

D'uh. That's a great point. Maybe in another 30 years we'll see some of the notes paid off and some more competitve pricing.

Reply to
Jim

Well, I love Kalin SB, but probably not what you are looking for (current release is probably 1998 or so). On high end Heitz and Mayacamas make serious SB in a more Bdx blanc mode.

I was surprised by liking a Silverado SB. Grey Stack ain't bad, but here they are closing. With SB not being a "hot" Cali varietal wine you might keep an eye out for well priced cleanskin rebrands like Cameron Hughes.

But for SB I mostly look to Loire.

Reply to
DaleW

Prompted by this comment, I recently tried a bottle of the 2013 Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc, and I have to say that I found it quite appealing. To me, its nose smelled of grapefruit and grass, and it had great acidity, a very savory flavor profile and good depth. I'm not sure what about it reminded you of stomach acid.

Mark Lipton

Reply to
Mark Lipton

It was all in the nose. I've probably had 5 or 6 bottles over the last few years; my wife loves it. The taste is fine, the grass and grapefruit are fine; but, I just would always smell that bad 'hangover' stomach acid smell. It's about the only wine that does that to me.

Reply to
Anony Mouse

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