Beginner's Guide to Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc is probably one of the most well known grape varietals. It’s approachable to new wine consumers and very versatile for food pairings.

But I think a lot of folks are only familiar with 1 or 2 styles of Sauvignon Blanc. I think when most people think of Sauvignon Blanc, they are thinking of the classic style from Marlborough, New Zealand. Here, the expression of this grape is very herbal, grassy, and full of citrus. But, there are a lot of other great world regions that are known for making delicious Sauvignon Blanc and a lot of folks are really surprised when they try one and it doesn’t taste at all like the ones found in Marlborough New Zealand.

In this blog post, I’m going to give you a quick overview of the top regions around the world that are known for making delicious Sauvignon Blanc. Now this grape is grown in other regions, but the below are places that have become synonymous with quality Sauvignon Blanc due to the expression of the grape and fame of the wines coming from these regions. I’ll give you a quick overview of the top regions you want to be familiar with, but if you want to learn more about each of these regions, be sure to listen to The Wine CEO Podcast Episode #36 where I do an overview of everything you need to know about Sauvignon Blanc in 15 minutes!

Listen to Episode #36 Now!

Intro to Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc is a thin skinned white grape that thrives in cooler climates where it doesn’t need as much sunlight to grow. Nonetheless, Sauvignon Blanc is a tough grape to grow. The french named the grape ‘Sauvignon Blanc’ because ‘sauvignon’ is a derivative of ‘sauvage’, which means “savage”. This grape truly is savage. It grows out of control and has to have constant attention. It must be pruned, trained, and cleaned of leaves often or it will grow so much it can kill itself. This kind of care and attention takes a lot of time from the winemaker, making sauvignon blanc your high maintenance best friend. Fun fact, even though it’s high maintenance, it was crossed with Cabernet Franc to make one of the most infamous grape varietals on the planet - Cabernet Sauvignon.

New Zealand

New Zealand is by far one of the most well known regions for Sauvignon Blanc. If you want to learn all about New Zealand, be sure to head over to my blog post HERE. Or you can listen to The Wine CEO Podcast Episode #34 and The Wine CEO Podcast Episode #35.

But as a quick overview, Sauvignon Blanc is grown throughout New Zealand, but Marlborough is definitely the most infamous of all Sauvignon Blanc regions here. The sauvignon blancs from Marlborough tend to have a lot of green tropical notes like kiwi, grapefruit, and passionfruit. They are rarely aged and are typically drank rather young. Additionally they are rarely exposed to oak, so they tend to have a very crisp and refreshing flavor. They pair nicely with herbal and vegetal flavors and are best with white fish, shrimp, salads and other herbal dishes.

France

Some of the most well known Sauvignon Blancs in the world come from France. It’s grown throughout Bordeaux where it’s commonly blended with another grape varietal called semillon, to make a rather sweet wine. But it’s also widely grown in the Loire Valley, where it’s believed that Sauvignon Blanc originated. The Loire is located in northwest France, where there are fairly cool temperatures. This climate is perfect for growing a thin skinned, racy and acidic grape like Sauvignon Blanc. The 2 most well known regions for Sauvignon Blanc in The Loire Valley are Sancerre and Pouilly Fume.

Sancerre is arguably more famous and is synonymous with the term Sauvignon Blanc in France. But, Sauvignon Blanc from both Sancerre & Pouilly Fume have more mineral, smoke, and citrus tang than their New Zealand sister. The herbal notes can appear more tame and instead highlight the tart grapefruit and flint flavor notes. A lot of these characteristics are due to the unique limestone and chalk soils that are found in this region. I always like to mention that although everyone commonly refers to Pouilly as Pouilly Fume, this is technically the name given to the wine. The name of the region is actually ‘Pouilly sur Louire’. It was believed that the unique limestone soil in this region gave the grapes a smoky flavor, so the vintners named the grape ‘Pouilly Fume’ or “smoke of Pouilly”.

Sauvignon Blancs from this region make delicious food pairing wines because they are bone dry and acidic, but also really refreshing. A common pairing would be to put Sancerre or Pouilly Fume with goat cheese, mostly because this region of France is also known for amazing goat cheese. But Sancerre and Pouilly Fume can also pair with white fish, shell fish, fried seafood, oysters, and asian food.

United States

I would argue that the other main region that makes world renowned Sauvignon Blanc is the United States. Specifically California and Washington state are both known for making great sauvignon blancs. The warmer climate in California means that Napa and Sonoma Sauvignon Blancs are known for having ripe flavors of white peach, white grapefruit, and lemongrass. Often these wines are even aged in oak to give them a little more body and buttery flavors. It’s also very common to see winemakers in California blend their Sauvignon Blanc with
Semillon in a similar style to Bordeaux. In the 1960s, a vineyard started calling their Sauvignon Blancs - “Fume Blanc”. This nickname stuck and now many winemakers across the state use it and you will find it on many wine labels for Sauvignon Blanc.

Minor Regions

So we’ve already covered New Zealand, France, and California. But let’s chat Austria, Chile, Australia, and South Africa.

Austria is known for having very smoky Sauvignon Blancs while Chile on the other hand, prides itself in really fresh Sauvignon Blancs that have a green grassy and herbal flavor. Most of the Sauvignon Blancs you’ll see coming from Australia are usually blended with a little bit of Semillon, similar to styles in California and Bordeaux. Lastly, Sauvignon Blancs from South Africa are known for being a perfect combination of most other Sauvignon Blanc regions. With notes of smoke, mineral, grassy herbs, and high acid, they make for a delicious combo with oysters, calamari, and other seafood as well as unique vegetables like artichokes.