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Three fun sauvignon blancs a crisp rebuke to red-onlys - Palm Beach Post

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Three fun sauvignon blancs a crisp rebuke to red-onlys - Palm Beach Post
Mar 27th 2012, 18:00

I've met a lot of wine drinkers who tell me, "I drink only red wine."

And once, I would have thought the same thing of myself. But then I started trying white wines.

And then I found sauvignon blanc.

It was years ago, but I still remember the nose on the first one I tried, and I thought, "Nothing can smell this good and be for real," so I took another breath and it was even better. Then I took a sip. The beautiful nose had been translated into the taste, and I fell hard for this varietal.

So when the chance came to try three different sauvignon blancs sent to the Swirl Girls for review, my hand was the first one up in the air. Ah, three different countries – what a great tasting opportunity!

I tasted the 2010 Justin sauv blanc from California (Justin is one of my favorite wineries, as regular readers know), the 2011 Chasing Venus from Marlborough, New Zealand and the 2011 Casa Silva Reserva from Colchagua Valley, Chile.

The grape originated in France, but New Zealand has taken over as the world's enormously popular sauvignon blanc region, with the wines being known for their tropical noses and tastes. (And reviewers keep mentioning gooseberry. Have you had a gooseberry recently? I haven't.)

My biggest problem was what food to make with the wines, because I wanted to taste them with and without food. I settled for a paella, which had some kick (a couple of jalapeños), but also had some tomatoes, ham, peas, yellow rice and the right seasonings I thought would go well with a usually dry white wine.

My husband is a riesling fan, but happily volunteered for the tasting, especially since it came with my paella. Up first was the 2010 Justin ($14 online), which had some light tropical scents on the nose, but not as deep a nose as I was expecting.

The Paso Robles winery is known for its big, bold reds, so I thought the sauv blanc would have some of those traits, too. Nope, not in smell and not in taste. I got some light vanilla with a dose of grapefruit, and lime and lemon, some minerality and a tinge of straw. It was a crisp, pleasant wine, but didn't bowl me over.

Then we tried the 2011 Casa Silva ($11.99 online), which I think is the first 2011 vintage I've tried, period. This has a faint citrus nose, is a light-bodied, slightly acidic wine with some grapefruit and pear notes and a nice finish to it. The sauv blancs' acidity were proving a good match for the paella, which toned down the sharper acids. This Chilean wine was more delicate than the Justin in nose and palate, tasting of citrus and a faint coconut, tropical finish. It would be a good poolside wine on a hot day.

The 2011 Chasing Venus ($10.25 online) was a yummy, typical New Zealand sauv blanc, and that's what I was looking for: a beautiful, aromatic nose of coconut and banana, with a taste of honeysuckle, pear and lime all rolled into a smoother, more unified wine.

This was crisp without being astringent and had a medium finish. With the paella, the wine had a green apple taste that was added to the mix, and this bigger sauvignon blanc went better with the dish than the other two. It's also the least expensive, so it's a true find.

It was both fun and educational to taste the same varietal from three countries over dinner. I highly recommend doing the same thing with any varietal – it would be a great dinner party idea, too. Keeping wine fun could be the Swirl Girls' mantra.

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