October was shaping up to be a very familiar wine month. It was nice with the fall weather moving in to be able to reach for something more recognizable. I have tried several a Sauvignon Blanc and found them to be hit or miss most of the time. Sometimes they were just too light to hold up to pairing with anything and not flavorful enough to stand on their own. But we would see what this week had in store.
Blue Quail Wines are grown on a completely organic vineyard on McFadden Farms. The vineyard is situated between the Russian River and the Mendocino National Forest. The vineyard has been around for just over 40 years and utilizes stainless steel aging for its wines, rather than oak barrel aging. Blue Quail Wines also produce a Chardonnay and a Pinot Gris.*
Sauvignon Blanc has long been known as a grassy wine. It’s color generally resembles straw. Flavors and scents typically include grass, herbs, and minerals. It tends to be more of a dry style wine with high acidity. Sauvignon Blanc is also referred to as Sancerre. This was the original name that it was given in France. Once New Zealand started producing the grapes, they were referred to by their actual grape name.*
This wine was from Mendocino, California and sampled on October 7, 2017. I noted the expected straw color and took a whiff from the glass. Clear scents of pineapple and pine forest came through immediately. There were scents of peaches lingering there as well. I was listening to “Australia” by The Shins. The first sip was very fruit forward. It was low in acidity with plenty of light fruit tastes. It didn’t seem to have much taste beyond this.
I gave this wine a rating of 2.0. It did not have the high acidity that I was expecting and there just wasn’t enough flavor to it. It was difficult to appreciate.
Sources: