It’s Christmas Eve Eve, a time for dark, cigar-box winter reds and warm mulled wines.
But since I’m celebrating the season from Florida (and temps are at record highs around the country anyway), here’s the first white in the series!
REVIEW OF:
Bay Moon Sauvignon Blanc, 2014
Monterey, CA
$7.99 at Trader Joe’s (I think. Lost the receipt, so don’t quote me — definitely under $10 though!)
Until about a year ago, I had a strict policy against white wine. I mistakenly wrote it off as the stuff of housewives and sorority girls, snobbishly flaunting my tattooed-brunette desire for big, demanding reds — before I even really understood what those words mean, or which bottles lived up to such descriptors.
Then, I attended WSET class with Napa Valley Wine Academy and tasted, for the first time, mouth-filling viongier, airy Sancerre, sticky-sweet Sauternes, green-apple dry reisling and buttery California chardonnay — all very different wines, indeed, than the $8-liters my parents keep stocked by the case (love you guys)!
I learned that white wines can be deep and round and full-bodied or delighfully crisp and acidic — and that they can pair with certain foods better than highly-structured reds could ever hope to emulate.
And after discovering the world of whites, I quickly began populating my fridge with bottles of my favorite pale go-to: sauvignon blanc.
Sauvignon Blanc
I learned to apprciate sauvignon blanc maybe for its ability to exhibit exactly what big red bombs sometimes lack: fresh fruitiness, an absence of oak, and a refreshing acid that doesn’t ask you to think too much.
Plus, it goes really well with cheese. Have I mentioned I love cheese? I love cheese.
I also love the variability of this grape, which can produce flint-and-grass minerality or downright tropical fruit flavors depending on the climate in which it’s grown.
Bay Moon, Monterey
This guy fits the latter profile despite its cool, coastal California origins. (Have I mentioned how beautiful that part of California is? Wandering around Carmel-by-the-Sea and popping into tasting rooms — after the insane drive up Big Sur — is one of my very favorite memories. Definitely go if you get the chance).Â
It’s all tropics on the nose, displaying melon and pear — though still with a note of wet stone. Take a sip, and those elements blossom into apricot and cantaloupe, balanced with a mouth-wateringly juicy acid. It’s not a thin wine, either, as some cheap blancs tend to be: it’s got a lovely medium body and a lingering lemon finish.Â
I’ll tell you a secret: I’m more of a Sancerre kind of gal. When I reach for a sauv blanc, I pretty much want a burst of palate-cleansing citrus and little else — maybe some grass. This one’s a little fruit forward for that clean, crisp acid I generally look for — but it’s an interesting example of a sauv blanc profile you may not have tasted yet.Â
P.S. — I’m still making a delcious-looking, spicy mulled wine tomorrow — I’ll let you know how it turns out! Merry Christmas, everyone.