sauvignon blanc
Saturday, October 28, 2023 was our Maryland sauvignon blanc tasting. We had done a sauvignon blanc tasting back in June 2021 down in OCMD with Kim Crawford, Simi and Starborough with food like scallops, crab cakes and feta, watermelon salad that all paired very well with that style of the grape but Maryland and its surrounding states are making a style of the grape distinctly different and we were very interested in digging in to that a bit more. The first sentence per Wine Folly about the grape is "a popular and unmistakable white wine that's loved for its "green" herbal flavors and racy acidity." While that is more or less true of Maryland sauvignon blancs, you don't necessarily get that distinctive, super acidic, crisp finish due to our slightly warmer client that you would normally associate with a sauvignon blanc from the liquor store, most likely from New Zealand or France. Primary flavors like honeydew melon, grapefruit, white peach and passion fruit, in addition to herbacious, grassy notes, bell pepper and lemon frequent the nose and palate for this grape. With all of these things in mind I put together a menu of vegetable forward dishes, that all had either an acidic vinaigrette or creamy sauce. There were lemon parsley grilled shrimp skewers, grilled chicken skewers with tzatziki, feta and mint, tortellini pasta salad with roasted bell pepper and asparagus in a lemon, terragon vinaigrette, roasted brussels sprouts in an apple cider vinager and dijon mustard vinaigrette, cucumer salad with tzatziki and feta, and a fritatta with asparagus, bell pepper and goat cheese. The wines we had were Big Cork's sauvignon blanc, along with Bordeleau's and a Mussel Bay from New Zealand for the contrast. Not a whole lot of Maryland wineries are making this grape so we didn't have a ton of options. The first one we tried was Big Cork's. It had lemon and bell pepper aromas. On the palate we got notes of bright lemon and coal/minerality. It was medium plus acidity which was higher than I expected it to be and paired very well with the shrimp skewers, cucumber salad and roasted vegetables. Bordeleau's was less acidic and had notes of honeysuckle, bell pepper and grass. On the palate, we got more green fruit like apples and more earthiness. It paired well with the shrimp skewers, brussels and goat cheese. Last was the New Zealand. As expected it was very high in acidity with notes of lemon, apple, grass, parsley and cilantro. Apple, lemon, grapefruit and green pepper were on the palate. It paired much better with the tortellini pasta salad, chicken skewers, cucumber and the frittata - anything creamy really. All in all, this was a great tasting and we are coming away from it feeling like we got to know Maryland sauvignon blanc a lot better. Hopefully we can try some more varietals of it soon.
