Sauvignon blanc: embracing the funk
After spending many years making wine in Ontario, I had serious doubts about whether sauvignon blanc was a variety that I could do well with. That all changed in the winter of 2009. That year, after harvest, I took a trip to New Zealand to work crush down there and to study what makes sauvignon tick.
Sauv blanc is a French grape. It is a significant component of white Bordeaux, including Sauternes, and it is also the predominant white grape in the Loire Valley, where it dominates Sancerre, Pouilly-Fume, Quincy, and Touraine.
Even though it is a grape with its own distinctive character, its expression is very different in other parts of the world, depending on the climate, soil, and winemaking techniques. Personally, I think the “ultimate” sauv blanc is coming from New Zealand and in making it for my own label, I wanted to craft it in the New Zealand style.
On to New Zealand: Embracing the Funk
The time I spent in New Zealand was certainly eye-opening. What I learned was that with sauvignon blanc — as with most winemaking — less is always more. You don’t want to push the fruit to over-ripen. You don't over-handle it. You need to keep the air away from it, emphasize the acidity, stir the lees, and above all — embrace the funk.
Yes, it’s true … during fermentation, sauvignon blanc smells wild, and that’s an understatement. It’s brilliant: it’s got loads of bright citrus fruit and searing acidity, but it’s also funky — fruit and stank in equal measures. A less experienced winemaker might be nervous at that point, but the truth is — it changes on its own.
What’s in the glass
The Traynor Family Sauvignon Blanc is made very much in the New Zealand style: crisp, clean, and bracing with a solid core of citrus fruit, tart gooseberry, and herbal notes with just a touch of residual sugar. Keep in mind — just because it has a little residual doesn’t mean it’s sweet. A little touch of sugar helps to lift the fruit and broaden the palate.
Our Traynor devotees love it. It’s my go-to wine in the summer and I hope you will love it too. I do a whole-cluster ferment, which means we are treating it more like a red wine than a white. It gets a wild ferment on the skins, which lasts about 10 days, yielding a massive white wine with layers of complexity.
Unlike many cool-climate sauv blancs, ours is a fruit bomb. It’s got all the grapefruit citrus typicity coupled with a pronounced herbal accompaniment. Grassy notes give way to white grapefruit and quince and it finishes with an exotic, slightly spicy note. It’s got plenty of crisp acidity and just a hint of sweetness (from the alcohol, not sugar — it’s perfectly dry) and a soft, lingering finish.
Pair it up with goat cheese (try Grey Owl — it’s perfection), oysters with mignonette, Hawaiian pizza, or fresh-caught pickerel with a lemon beurre blanc. Cheers!
