Secret Society Sauvignon Blanc Tasting

It’s a very oak and dagger affair.

A bunch of wine friends gather at a winery somewhere in the Okanagan arriving with only one bottle each of a preset particular varietal in an unmarked brown paper bag.

This event happens sometimes, but not always, and is not bound to any sort of schedule. Somehow, not sure exactly how, I have been invited to a couple of these now.

This edition of the Secret Society tasting is brought to you by Sauvignon Blanc.

I will start by saying that I don’t particularly like Sauvignon Blanc for two reasons.

Firstly, most of them taste like bitter grapefruit to me. I don’t like grapefruit.

Secondly, I don’t like ordering “Sauv Blanc” at restaurants because it sounds poncy, and there is no way to “informalize” it without sounding pretentious.

So going into this tasting I am already a non-believer, but am trying really hard to open up my senses to what could potentially be some great wines. This time around we have nine different bottles under wraps.

The tasting gets going and I am inundated by grapefruit. Some good, some bad. Across the board most of them taste alright, but nothing has converted me from a hater to a lover. Out of the first flight of 3 there is one that I like, but I can’t say love. I’m just not convinced.

Being that this is a blind tasting there are is no outside influence like cost or label to sway my judgment.

It takes until the last flight of 3 for me to really get into this. Here I am finally finding something totally unique. I make my notes and declare #7 and #9 my two favourites with #1 being pretty decent, and #5 being totally oddball for a supposed Sauvignon Blanc.

Tasting blind is always great because the results are usually somewhat unexpected. In this particular case I have determined that #7 must be a Kim Crawford from New Zealand, which I would say is akin to the missionary position for my Sauv Blanc drinking. It’s the one that I will order if I must because I know it will be decent enough and please pretty much everybody at the table to a reasonable degree.

#9 to me tastes buttery with a soft texture, a bit of oak, and if it weren’t for the acidity and “pe pe du chat” smell (cat pee — a supposedly good characteristic of Sauvignon Blanc) I would probably think this is a Chardonnay.

#1 is easy drinking light grapefruit goodness, and #5 is just plain weird. To me it tastes like a late harvest dessert wine, someone else calls wilted or boiled spinach and greens on the nose, I agree and think the whole thing is a strange mix of sweet honey and savoury. The more savvy tasters (read: winemakers) call out bacteria as the potential cause for this honeysuckle flavour.

At the end of it all here’s how my top 3 favourites broke down:

1.) La Frenz Sauvignon Blanc 2009 – Okanagan Valley, Canada – This was my Kim Crawford doppelganger. A seemingly New Zealand influenced Sauv Blanc with a big nose of pink grapefruit and bright citrus flavour. All around this will be a table-pleaser, and is a nice balance of fruit, acid, and sweet. I’d say it is less tart than most Sauv Blancs I have tasted. Like!

2.) Mystery Upcoming Sauvignon Blanc Release from Very Reputable Winery – Okanagan Valley, Canada – this is the one with the almost Chardonnay-like butteryness to it. It’s a nice change from the super grapefruit Sauv Blancs and is a little weightier (read: heavier in body) than what would be considered typical for this varietal. It’s got a good all around taste to it and is the one you want to bring to the party of wine snobs to be different from the pack. Also like!

3.) Carmen Sauvignon Blanc 2009 – Valle de Curico, Chilé  – I liked this one and to me it is a fairly typical Sauv Blanc. It is grapefruity with a big grapefruit nose and some acid. It reminded me of a lemon water spritzer or something like that or a dry grapefruit soda. I’d say it was a little more delicate and a little less sweet than the others mentioned above. This one is a nice refreshing summer wine that comes in on budget at about $15.

Notable Mentions:

Kettle Valley Winery Sauvignon Blanc 2008 – Okanagan Valley, Canada – This one is notable because it is just plain weird. Honeysuckle sweet is not typical of a Sauvignon Blanc, but this one may interest some drinkers with its unique mix of flavours. Unfortunately as an experiment this one falls in at $24 and is one of the more expensive wines tasted this time around.

Domaine Vacheron Sancerre Sauvignon Blanc 2007 – Sancerre, France – I completely skipped over this one in the tasting as it was a bit average tasting, but upon recommendation would try it again with a little more time for the wine to “open.” I think I am a little swayed by the Sancerre regional designation as it feels like that should give it instant greatness, but with that said I didn’t prefer it when tasted blind. On second go-around I think this one might be better with food. The downer to this is that it also costs about $40 here in British Columbia and was the most expensive of the bunch.

Ata Rangi Sauvignon Blanc 2008 – Martinborough, New Zealand – This one has an interesting fizz on the palate and a little butter on the finish. It was alright, but to me was outgunned by some of the more floral Sauv Blancs in the bunch. This one is supposed to be good, but I ended up kind of skipping over it in the tasting. On a budget though it is not bad as it falls in around $20.

That is all. Am I converted? Not entirely, but there were a few in there that were pretty good. Hats off to La Frenz once again for making something great, and definitely watch out for the Soon To Be Released Mystery Sauv. I still don’t love Sauvignon Blanc, but I think I may have found a few more additions to my repertoire that may get me out of “old standby” Kim Crawford into something a little different and potentially more exciting.

For now though it is time to slink away into the sunset until the next summoning of the Secret Society.

*Note: there is actually nothing secret or snooty about this tasting group. It’s just more fun to write about this way.