As spring weather starts to heat up, with hints of summer’s humidity in the air, many wine drinkers thirst for crisp, fruity, refreshing white wines — the sort that one can relish while sitting on a patio or a balcony on a sunny afternoon. Few wines fit that description better than Sauvignon Blanc.
Sauvignon Blanc is best known as the great white grape of Pouilly Fumé and Sancerre in France’s Lorie Valley, and has long been the backbone of most white Bordeaux blends. Today, Sauvignon Blanc is one of the most widely planted white wine grapes in the world. When made well, Sauvignon Blanc wines will often have a distinctive bouquet of grass and green berries, with sometimes a hint of freshly churned cream
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— the very scents of spring itself.
In Israel this grape was first planted in 1982, by the monks at the Latroun Monastery, but Carmel, the newly founded Golan Heights winery, and a few others quickly followed their example. Within the last decade, wineries all over Israel have started producing quality wines made from the versatile white grape. Three years ago in this space, we first wrote about the then-growing number of Israeli Sauvignon Blancs available in the US. At the time we found five good or very good Israeli Sauvignon Blancs, all of which were retailing for less than $15. Today, as many wine consumers are searching the shelves for less expensive bottles, it seemed like a good time to revisit Israeli Sauvignon Blancs.
So for this month’s Fruit of the Vine, we tasted seven Israeli Sauvignon Blancs, all from the 2007 vintage. The results of the tasting were interesting: While there are a smaller number of Israeli Sauvignon Blancs on the market today as compared to three years ago, the quality of the wines is almost universally better; and although the prices of Israeli Sauvignon Blancs have increased in the last three years, most still retail for under $15.
One of the best wines in the tasting was the Yatir’s Sauvignon Blanc. Made from 100 percent Sauvignon Blanc grapes grown in the Ramat Arad Vineyard, in the northern part of the Negev Desert, this crisp, bright straw-colored wine has a mouth-watering nose of apples, kiwifruit and lychee nuts, with notes of citrus, oak and honey. Look for an apple-like flavor, with notes of lemons, mangos and oak. Although drinking well now, this wine should be able to continue to develop in cellar for at least two more years.
Equally good was Barkan’s Reserve Sauvignon Blanc. This dark-straw colored, light-to-medium bodied wine was made from grapes grown in the Galilee and fermented and aged in stainless-steel. Look for flavors and aromas of quince, kiwifruit, bananas, freshly cut grass and nutmeg, with a nice mineral element and creamy undertones. This delightful wine should be consumed within the next year.
Although Israel rarely produces truly great wines from the Sauvignon Blanc grape, most Israeli Sauvignon Blancs are moderately priced, food friendly wines. Israeli Sauvignon Blanc goes particularly well with lightly flavored poultry, and fish or pasta in cream or citrus-based sauces. Most Sauvignon Blanc wines are made to be drunk within a few years of vintage, so avoid older bottlings. Whether you’re having a rooftop picnic in Manhattan, a barbeque in the Bronx, or just a leisurely lunch on Long Island, there is never a bad time to have a bit of springtime in a glass.
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