I wasn’t familiar with Silver Ridge Vineyards before trying their Napa sauvignon blanc offering, but with so many “Silver” and “Ridge” named wines earning such great accolades, I was sure that they chose the name smartly.  From a branding standpoint, my subconscious seemed excited that I was about to consume a really good wine.  Although, I’ve become such a fan of New Zealand sauvignon blanc that consciously, I was preparing for a let down.

Right off the bat, the Silver Ridge sauvignon blanc hits you with a rather buttery nose, with laces of honey turning to very mild sweet bell pepper.  With a little more time to open up, aromas of banana and sweet bread begin to appear.  While this is not my style of sauvignon blanc, (I much prefer the richer, peppery and grassy style of the kiwi’s) I certainly appreciate the complexity here.

On the palate, the wine offers up a nice core of tropical fruit and bell pepper.  However, here is where, in my view, the wine’s buttery smoothness undermines it.  While the fruit is there, the wine doesn’t balance it enough with a nice core of acidity.  The finish seems especially muted.  It doesn’t possess the raw zingy flavor that I believe people are becoming accustomed to now, particularly from New World sauvignon blanc.  For sure this is a more elegant style, and one that I believe will appeal to California wine lovers.  So while I gave it a good rating and recommend that you try it, I’ll pass, thank you.

A  Salute!

Wine: Silver Ridge
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 12.5%
Rating: 85
Price: $11.99

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Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

I was just going through my tasting notes and I discovered that I still had notes for this wine from the sauvignon blanc series we did earlier this year, but somehow I neglected to publish this review at that time.  And since it’s such a hot summer day, sauvignon blanc is the perfect wine to highlight today!

Another unique coincidence with this wine is that it’s from Paso Robles, California, which is the theme in my latest column in Mutineer Magazine — which just hit shelves last week.  So there’s another good reason to highlight this wine.

Those who are regular readers here might know that I tend to favor sauvignon blanc from Chile more than that from California.  But this one from Tarrica Wine Cellars, while not an overwhelming tropical fruit experience (like some of my favorites from Chile), is still a pretty good wine.

Balance is the story that this wine tells.  It shows a nice balance of fruit, acid and mineral — three things that make for a beautiful sauvignon blanc.  The aromas from this wine reflect apple, mango, citrus and wet stones.  The palate gives good acidity, with apple and lime drenched mango flavors.  It finishes with a nice touch of acidity and a cooling mineral characteristic.  This is a nice wine.

Wine: Tarrica Wine Cellars Limited Release 
Variety: Sauvignon blanc
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 87
Price:  $10.66

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Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

The May/June issue of Mutineer Magazine will be on shelves any day now, including my Wine Steals column.  In this issue I do a roundup of sauvignon blanc from California and Chile, including this one from Rodney Strong.

Wine is an interesting thing when it comes to brands.  There are so many of them, that the options are nearly endless.  And for me, a few brands stand out in my mind that I have an affinity toward.  It’s not that they are necessarily better than other brands, but they’re connected with memories.  I imagine the same is true for other folks too.  Rodney Strong is one of those brands for me.

Back in the mid 1990′s, a Rodney Strong cabernet sauvignon was one of the first wines of quality that I tasted.  Sure, I had tasted a number of crappy wines before that one.  But when I tasted the Rodney Strong, I knew there was more to wine than the plonk I had been drinking.  It was a pivotal moment in my wine appreciation.  Since then, I always get a good feeling when I come across a bottle of Rodney Strong—even if there may be better wines right next to it.  It’s a personal connection.  And I think those personal connections are an important part of enjoying wine.  You shouldn’t like or dislike something just because I, or any other reviewers, say it’s good or bad.  If you have a personal connection to a wine that makes it more enjoyable to you, then embrace that.

Now that I’ve revealed my affinity and bias for Rodney Strong, I should make it clear that I tasted this particular bottle in a blind tasting.  Therefore, I didn’t know what it was when I tasted it and my bias could not influence the review.

This wine shows the softer side of sauvignon blanc, with cooling fruit aromas like cantelope and mango.  But it also has an edge to it with a lemon aroma revealing the acid in this wine.  That acidity is perfect on the palate, which offers crisp apple, pear and lime flavors.  The finish is farily long with apple and citrus flavors lingering on your tongue for some time.  This is a good sauvignon blanc, particularly if you prefer a gentler style of this wine.

Wine: Rodney Strong Charlotte’s Home
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 87
Price:  $11.00

I have often dissed sauvignon blanc from California.  I’ve called it bland, boring, lifeless.  I’m guilty of badmouthing the whole category based on a few underwhelming experiences.  But truthfully, California can produce exceptional sauvignon blanc.  And this bottle from St. Supery proves me wrong for all the bad things I’ve said about Californian sauvignon blanc in the past.

Based in Napa Valley, St. Supery has been around since 1989.  It’s owned by Robert Skalli, a third generation winemaker from Southern France.  In addition to St. Supery, the Skalli family still owned vineyards in Southern France, where Robert has pioneered varietally-labeled wines versus the appellation-based designations that have been the tradition in France for ages.

Despite Skalli’s French heritage, the St. Supery Sauvignon Blanc is a very “new world” style wine with lively tropical fruit flavors.

The nose is exceptionally powerful on this wine and has aromas of tomato leaf, cut grass, grapefruit, celery and flint.  The flavors are predominently citrus, like grapefruit and lime, but there’s also some honeydew melon — which comes out even more on the finish.  The finish also shows a touch of saltiness.  The acidity is sufficient, but a wee bit more would be nice. Still, this is an excellent sauvignon blanc.

Wine: St. Supéry
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 13.7%
Rating: 90
Price: $14.99

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Continuing the theme of our last review, today we’re checking out a couple more sauvignon blancs from the Casablanca Valley region of Chile.  Both of these come from Quintay, which is a brand that was started by a group of Chilean wine producers all focused on cool climate wines.  Wine from Quintay come from the Casablanca and Leyda valleys, but these two both come from Casablanca.

The cool climate of Casablanca Valley helps these wines create lively tropical fruit flavors with crisp acidity.  The mineral characteristics also add to the complexity of these wines.

Quintay Clava Sauvignon Blanc 2009

Tropical fruit aromas abound from this wine, with plenty of grapefruit, lemon and mango.  It also has some of the classic cut grass that sauvignon blanc is often known for.  The palate offers exceptional acidity, with green apple, grapefruit and melon flavors.  It finishes with a salty minerality and crisp green apple acidity. This is a very nice sauvignon blanc.

Wine: Quintay Clava
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 12.5%
Rating: 88
Price: $11.99

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Quintay Q Sauvignon Blanc 2009

This is an exciting and tropical sauvignon blanc on the nose, with loads of grapefruit, pineapple and a good bit of cut grass.  The acidity is exceptional and gives a real zing to the palate, which offers a whole mess of grapefruit flavor along with some apple and melon.  The mouthfeel is also very nice with this wine.  If you like a lively, tropical sauvignon blanc this one is outstanding.

Wine: Quintay Q
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 12.5%
Rating: 91
Price: $15.99

Disclosure: These wines were received as a sample.

This is the third year in a row that we’ve had the opportunity to review the Veramonte Sauvignon Blanc and after reviewing this wine on multiple occasions, a few things have become evident.

First of all, it’s clear that Veramonte consistently makes a really good sauvignon blanc.  They’ve become my “go to” brand for SB.

Second, Casablanca Valley is a world class cool climate region.  It’s generally cooler than California but warmer than Marlborough, New Zealand.  Some may say it’s the best of both worlds.  Warm enough to bring the fruit to full ripeness, yet cool enough to preserve the acidity.  The wine that these conditions create has a flavor profile some describe as between New Zealand and California — which is right where I want it to be.  However, I would more accurately describe it as better than New Zealand and California.

Finally, it’s become evident that vintage does make a difference.  I’ve been beating on this drum for years, but heard others try to say the vintage doesn’t matter in inexpensive wines.  I disagree.  I always want to know the vintage of the juice in the bottle.  In the case of Veramonte Sauvignon Blanc, while it has been consistently good we’ve seen some variation from one vintage to the next.  While some vintages are good, others are outstanding!  And 2010 is an example of outstanding.

I tasted this wine blind in a lineup of Californian and Chilean sauvignon blanc.  The Veramonte stood out from the others as something really special.  In fact, it blew me away!

Wowee, this is a nice sauvignon blanc!  It has great intensity on the nose.  The aromas are complex and beautiful, with a bit of peach, some melon, lime juice, cut grass and flint.  And all of that is perfectly balanced.  The palate is full of ripe fruit, with peach, apple and citrus flavors.  The acidity is near perfect.  It finishes with a salted green apple and peach flavor, with reasonable length.  This is an exceptional sauvignon blanc.  I would say it’s the best vintage yet for Veramonte and perhaps the best sauvignon blanc I’ve ever tasted.

Wine: Veramonte
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 92
Price: $12.00

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Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

Since the last review we did was an updated vintage of a wine we’d previously reviewed, I thought we would continue that trend this week with another.  Not too long ago we reviewed the 2009 Peñalolen Sauvignon Blanc and we’re already checking out the 2010 vintage of this wine.

How can that be?  A 2010 Sauvignon Blanc on the market in early February of 2011.  Well, remember that this one is from Chile and their seasons are opposite of ours.  Therefore the grapes for this wine were actually harvested in spring of 2010 rather than fall.  Or was it fall in spring?  … I mean is April called “fall” in Chile?  Now that I think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever been south of the equator to find that out.  I need to plan a trip to experience this.

Anyway, getting back to reviewing this wine.  The 2009 version of this wine was loaded with citrus and that continues in the 2010 vintage.  But the 2009 also showed an interesting vegetal component on the nose that takes on more of a classic “cut grass” expression in the 2010.

Grapefruit, mineral, lemon and cut grass aromas give this wine the nose of a classic Casablanca Valley sauvignon blanc.  The palate is loaded with citrus flavors, like grapefruit and lime.  There’s also some melon flavor on the palate.  The acidity is just right.  The finish is medium-long and teaming with citrus and mineral flavors.

If you’re looking to explore Chilean Sauvignon Blanc, I highly recommend checking out those from Casablanca Valley.  And this Peñalolen is a nice example of what you can expect from this region.  To be clear, I’m not ruling out SB from other regions of Chile, but Casablanca Valley is pretty consistent and reliable for this varietal.

Wine: Peñalolen
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol: 12.5%
Rating: 87
Price: $12.00

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Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

This is an intriguing wine.  It’s classified as a Sauvignon Blanc, and at 80% of the blend, that is technically accurate.  But Clif’s winemakers, Sarah Gott and Bruce Regalia blend in 4 additional varietals to create a wine that offers layers, complexity, and distinction.  Those expecting typical sauvignon blanc characteristics won’t be disappointed, but The Climber offers some not-so-typical characteristics that distinguish this wine from others in it’s category.

CheapWineRatings.com had great things to say about the 2008 Climber Sauvignon Blanc, but Clif has adjusted the blend from last year.   First the percentage of SB has been reduced down from 88%, and pinot gris replaces chardonnay, while pinot munier replaces chenin blanc.  Riesling and Muscat remain in the blend, but their percentages have been adjusted to 5% and 1% respectively.   What’s notable is the percentage of pinot gris used in the 2009 vintage – 13%.

We’re not quite sure if Clif will adjust this blend again next year, but we assume they plan on tweaking it for each vintage.  What we do know is that this is the second vintage of The Climber white we’ve tasted and reviewed, and we continue to be impressed with Clif’s execution of this wine.  It’s also important to mention that Clif claims to source grapes from “sustainable or organic vineyards”.  While that’s not necessarily a guarantee that the wines are organic, I’ll assume that factors in to how the blend shapes up.

No part of the blend is taken through malolactic fermentation, so the wine retains a nice crispness.  I’m particularly impressed with the wine’s complex layers of fruit. You’ll find loads of grapefruit, along with some pineapple, lemon and tangerine.  But the unique blend is also responsible for layering on touches of honey, melon and sage.  The wine has good acidity, and offers a long finish.  Enjoy it with food or enjoy it alone.

A  Salute!

Wine: Clif – The Climber
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc blend
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 13.7%
Rating: 88
Price: $12.99

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

This is going to be a quick, to-the-point review.

It’s another Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand, and this is from the Dashwood brand. I know some folks in the wine world don’t like to use the word, “brand” but that’s what it is. Anyway, Dashwood is produced by Vavasour — which, as I mentioned in another recent review, is owned by Foley Family Wines from Sonoma.

While this is still characteristically proper for a sauvignon blanc, it’s not nearly as grassy or grapefruity as I’d expect from New Zealand. The nose has a fairly powerful mineral quality, as well as melon, citrus and nettle. The palate brings a lot more citrus than the aromas would lead you to believe. It has flavors of grapefruit, melon and green apple, with good concentration. The acidity is just right.

Although it’s a slightly different than I’d expect from New Zealand, it’s still a nice sauvignon blanc.

Wine: Dashwood
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 13%
Rating: 87
Price: $10.99

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Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

Tonight we’re checking out another sauvignon blanc from New Zealand, and this one comes from a box.  Not a boxy box, but an octagon-shaped box from Octavin.  These boxes hold 3 liters of wine, which is the equivalent of four 750ML bottles.  For me, there are pros and cons of boxed wines.  The cons include the fact that you don’t get to go through the ritual of pulling a cork.  Enjoying wine can be experiential and pulling a cork is part of the experience.  But the pros for boxed wine include the fact that you don’t have to open bottles as often, after all there are four bottles worth in here.  And bag-in-box wine stays fresh much longer than wine in bottles.  You can work on one box for a month or longer and it will still be good, while wine in a bottle goes bad within a couple days of opening.

This Silver Birch sauvignon blanc is from Marlborough, which is located at the northern tip of the southern island of New Zealand.  This is the largest wine district in New Zealand and is well known for its sauvignon blanc.  In fact, New Zealand is known more for sauvignon blanc than any other type of wine, with more hectares of sauvignon blanc grapes planted than all other varieties combined.

The nose is a little bit tight on this sauvignon blanc — that is to say there’s not a lot of intensity to the aromas. Melon is the most prominent aroma, with green apple and and mango wafting underneath it.  In the mouth, the acidity gives it life and flavors of melon soaked in lime juice.  The finish is medium in length and tastes like green apples.  There’s not a lot of intensity or concentration to this wine, but it’s passable as a subtle sauvignon blanc.

Wine: Silver Birch
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 13%
Rating: 83
Price: $23.99 for 3 liters

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Here’s what others thought of the this wine:

• Denver Examiner
• Why Wine Blog
• Wine for Normal People

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.