2009 and the Brave New World of Sauvignon Blanc
October 3, 2010
Back 20 years ago I pretty much despaired of California Sauvignon Blanc. There were only a few producers then worth remembering: Rochioli and Gary Farrell in the Russian River pleased me, as did Babcock and Gainey in Santa Barbara. Each had access to fine vineyards, but more importantly each saw the grape as a noble one, worth noble attention. Such producers stood out in high relief from their competitors, who generally looked at Sauvignon Blanc through the eyes of a banker.
Most Sauvignon Blanc producers of the period saw Sauvignon Blanc as (like white Zinfandel) “cash-flow” wine. Growers use the pruning of a vine to help determine the size of the upcoming crop. An over-large crop may fail to properly ripen if the weather is too cool, but if the weather is warm (so common in California) the high-yield grapes will still ripen, giving the producer significantly more bottles to sell.
A downside of high-yield crops is that the intensity and balance of the finished product may prove undistinguished even in a perfectly ripe vintage, but Sauvignon Blanc is a flavorful grape and even when it delivers a huge crop it can be respectably flavorful. By the late 1980s, crops were reaching 14 tons per acre: a very high yield. No matter if the juice was less flavorful than the barrel it had previously been stored in, the advantages outweighed such trivialities. Stainless steel fermentation was inexpensive and kept the wine fresh, and that wine could be shipped earlier, thus avoiding storage and barrel costs.
A bit of Healthy Competition
During the 1990s, most of California’s nationally-marketed producers took their Banker’s advice. Unsurprisingly, the reputation of California’s Sauvignon Blanc plummeted. At the same time, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc was gaining a world-wide reputation and world-wide distribution. These wines showed fine concentration and lovely freshness, and although they saw little time in oak, their fruit had an intensity that shamed many of our domestic wines. At that time, our new customers were asking for New Zealand’s versions two-to-one over the domestic ones.
In France, new producers (led famously by the late Didier Dagineau) were raising the reputation of Pouilly Fume. Its distinction became such that the best producers were getting unheard-of prices. California producers, in fear of the one and envy of the other, finally began again to compete.
Some began to make expensive wines of dramatic richness like Peter Michael, while others made wines of great fruit intensity and purity, like Merry Edwards. Merry Edwards wines have always seemed to me a more “prettified” version of what Rochioli was known for. An even larger number of producers, many new, have followed the New Zealand formula of high-intensity fruit, with little or no oak treatment.
At the end of this decade we find ourselves with a Sauvignon Blanc industry in full recovery and a large contingent of quality-driven winemakers, many committed to biodynamic or organic methods. 2008 has proven a fine year, but in 2009 we have a near-perfect Sauvignon Blanc vintage. The ’09s are now flooding the market and they should not be missed! What follows is a brief list of remaining fine 2008s and some exciting, recently released 2009s, in a variety of styles and prices. Lots of pleasure here, regardless of price!
2008 BERNARDUS MONTEREY
2008 CADE NAPA VALLEY
2008 DEEP SEA ARROYO GRANDE VALLEY
2008 GRGICH HILLS “FUME BLANC” NAPA VALLEY – BIODYNAMIC
2008 LEWIS “RESERVE” NAPA VALLEY
2008 PATIANNA MENDOCINO – BIODYNAMIC
2008 PONT DE CHEVALIER KNIGHTS VALLEY
2009 6 SIGMA LAKE COUNTY
2009 BECKMEN SANTA YNEZ VALLEY – BIODYNAMIC
2009 CAPTURE LES PIONIERS RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY – NVWE is now sold out
2009 CAPTURE TRADITION RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY
2009 CROCKER STAR NAPA VALLEY
2009 GRGICH HILLS “ESSENCE” NAPA VALLEY – BIODYNAMIC
2009 LEWIS NAPA VALLEY
2009 LIEFF NAPA VALLEY-YOUNTVILLE
2009 MARGERUM “SYBARITE” SANTA YNEZ VALLEY
2009 MERRY EDWARDS RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY – NVWE is now sold out
2009 PEIRSON MEYER “RYAN’S VINEYARD” NAPA VALLEY
2009 PETER FRANUS CARNEROS
2009 PETER MICHAEL L’APRES-MIDI KNIGHTS VALLEY
2009 RANCHO SISQUOC SANT BARBARA
2009 RIVER ROAD RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY
2009 ROCHIOLI RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY – NVWE is now sold out
2009 SIGNATERRA – BIODYNAMIC
2009 VOGELSANG SANTA BARBARA HAPPY CANYON
2009 WALTER HANSEL RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY – NVWE is now sold out
2009 WHITEHALL LANE NAPA VALLEY
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