As if we needed an excuse to open a bottle of our favourite wine, Friday 3rd May is International Sauvignon Blanc Day.
Yes that’s right, an entire day dedicated to your favourite white grape. What better reason is there to open up a bottle?
With explosive aromas of gooseberry, cut grass and guava, the highly aromatic Sauvignon Blanc grape makes some of the most refreshing wines going.
Celebrations will kick off in Marlborough, the New Zealand wine region known for producing intense, zesty and refreshing Sauvignon Blanc wines which leap from the glass.
However, events will take place across the globe, as wine lovers enjoy a glass or two of this delicious wine, from the screaming examples in the New World to the more refined from the Old World.
Here are five reasons you should open up a bottle on Sauvignon Blanc Day
- It tastes like summer but you can drink it all year round! Crisp, fresh, aromatic, intense — even explosive. The popular appeal of Sauvignon Blanc is perhaps not all that complicated, it tastes like summer in a glass and we can’t get enough of it!
- It has laid down roots all over the world. Once, and not long ago at all really, Sauvignon Blanc had only two serious regional claims to fame: Bordeaux (where it originates) and the Loire. Now however, it grows in America, Chile, South Africa, Australia and, of course, New Zealand.
- We helped Marlborough find a place in the UK when Tony got a call from the very persuasive Ernie Hunter who asked him to give his Kiwi wines a showing at The Sunday Times Wine Club Vintage Festival. So Tony flew to New Zealand to try Hunter’s wine and he was blown away! As he recalls: “I still wasn’t sure whether Britain was ready for a white so amazingly intense – I needn’t have worried. At the festival, customers and a panel of judges led by Hugh Johnson voted it Wine of Show – by a country mile! Marlborough Sauvignon had arrived …”
- It’s more versatile than you might think. While the wines of the Loire Valley (Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé are among the more prestigious regions) have razor-sharp acidity and intense green fruit and herbaceous aromas, the wines from New Zealand can be full-bodied with more tropical fruit flavours (think passion fruit and gooseberry) – both are best consumed while young. Bordeaux Sauvignon Blanc, especially from the Cru Classé châteaux in Pessac-Léognan and Graves, develops complex honey and toast flavours from ageing in the bottle. Some Sauvignon Blanc is even oaked, including the Fumé Blanc of Napa Valley, California.
- It pairs well with almost everything! Sauvignon Blanc is one of those fantastic wines that will taste delicious with almost anything. The sharpness of the acidity will cut through fat in rich dishes, while the most intense fruity examples will fare better against chilli heat. And if you insist on drinking only Sauvignon Blanc on Sauvignon Blanc Day, choose a sweet Sauternes to pair with your dessert – sweet food should always be paired with wines of at least the same sweetness levels.
