St. Supery 2007 Sauvignon Blanc: A Show Stopper

Sitting down to dinner the other night brought an exciting surprise. As a part of our nightly anitpasto we were indulging in an imported basil pesto and crackers. Imported from Italy, the pesto is intense, rich and succulent, just right after a long day of dehydrating work. As pleasant as the pesto was it was not the surprise. I opened a 2007 St. Supery Sauvignon Blanc as an accompaniment to our pesto. Mary and I have had St. Supery many times before and had some good experiences along with some fair to middling ones. This time was very different. Sauvignon Blancs usually have citrus, lime and herbal notes. Sometimes the grapfruit is very forward and intense. On this occassion, the grapefruit was there, indeed. What was surprising to us was the intense and totally forward pineapple flavors. It hit like a meteor strike. The pineapple exploded on the tongue and held on for what seemed like minutes. Pow! What excitement. Visions of pineapples from Central America danced in my head. After a time the grapefruit, lime, and green apple notes mixed in with a gentle acidity. The finish was long and zesty. I was reminded of the New Zealand SBs, especially as they were before growers started to dumb down the edginess that brought them to fame.

In reading reviews of the 2007 St. Supery I was struck by the minor role the pinapple flavors played. In fact, some reviewers did not mention pineapple at all. I suggest you give this wine and vintage a try. Let me know what you experience. It's worth the time and effort. You can pick up a bottle for about $20.00.

It's not every weekday night before dinner that such a zingy surprise occurs.

You can learn more about the superb wines produced at St. Supery by going to their equally superb website.

Christmas Fish and a French Sancerre

Christmas Eve always means seven fishes at the Oliva's. For as far back as I can remember we have been keeping this Italian tradition. Why seven fishes? It's unclear why seven fishes rather than any other number but many feel the number seven represents the seven sacraments of the Church or possibly the seven days of creation in the Book of Genesis. Whatever the reason, it's a great way to celebrate Christmas Eve with the family. As you can see from the photo, one of the dishes was a beautiful bowl of steamed muscles in a red sauce. To compliment the muscles, I served a 2006 Benton Lane Pinot Noir. I had served this at Thanksgiving with a tremendous result. See my past post. This 2006 Pinot is a particularly good vintage in that the growing season in Oregon was extremely hot. This added an amazing lushness and depth to this already excellent wine.

The next dish Mary served was a large bowl of vermicelli and home made clam sauce. To go with this, I served a French Eric Montintin 2007 Sancerre . I didn't go with our usual New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. I wanted to test Eric's last post in which he highly recommended the French Sancerres over the New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs. We were all happy we followed Eric's advice. Dave's fiance, Angela, said she "had never tasted a wine quite like this." Mary agreed that it was superb. It had a strong but not overwhelming bouquet of citrus with a pleasing color and a smooth, well-balanced body. It was dry and had citrus hints (mostly grapefruit to my taste)up front with a long and pleasing finish. The rest of the meal consisted of Alaskan Salmon, Fillets of Sole, Shrimp, and Crab and Cod cakes. We unanimously stayed with the Sancerre! A testament to its superior quality.

Christmas Eve dinner was a great success thanks to Mary's superb culinary talents, Eric's wine suggestions and great company. To learn more about Sancerre go to this site: The New York Times.

According to the Novovino Wine Company "Eric Montintin Domaine is located in the small town of Savigny-en-Sancerre, just 10 km north from Sancerre town. Eric started very small 10 years ago after returning from s stint as a wine buyer at a UK wine merchant. Today he owns a small 1.5 hectares vineyard in Sancerre and a couple more in Quincy and Menetou Salon. His Sancerre vineyard is entirely farmed organically and every grape from that vineyard was picked per hand."

Thanks Eric and on to New Year's Eve!

Bob

New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc

New Zealand has been producing the best Sauvignon Blanc since the 1970s. Once an unknown in the wine world, for the past 20 plus years it has taken the wine world by storm. Robert Mondavi did a great job with his Fume Blanc and the French certainly do a good job. But it is in New Zealand that this forgotten grape has made its mark. I started drinking Sauvignon Blanc just a few years ago. If memory serves me I was on the prowl for an interesting white to go with a summer dinner party Mary and I were planning. I picked up a Goldwater New Dog, probably a 2004 or 05 vintage. Mary and I were, as we used to say, blown away. It had a strongly lush nose and lime front with a long delicious finish. It was minerally and nicely textured with a rather full body for a white wine.

The second Sauvignon Blanc we've been tasting is Coopers Creek. It's full of grapefruit and nectarine that's in your face. It has great balance, is refreshing with a long lush finish. Coopers Creek is a classic New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. I have found it to be especially good in the warm months of Summer. It's brisk, fresh acidity is uplifting on those long hot days. We have added Villa Maria, Kim Crawford and others to our repertoire. These Sauvignon Blancs make wine tasing exciting. They can be brash and in your face. I am rarely so excited when drinking wine as I am with a New Zealand SB. It is a unique wine tasting experience to savor a fresh, crisp Sauvignon Blanc via New Zealand.

Sauvignon Blanc pairs well with food. It can go with poultry, fish, dips, vegetable dishes, etc. Please try this exciting and bold white wine.