{"id":20791,"date":"2015-08-17T07:00:57","date_gmt":"2015-08-17T11:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?p=20791"},"modified":"2016-10-06T15:44:03","modified_gmt":"2016-10-06T19:44:03","slug":"sauvignon-blanc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/sauvignon-blanc\/","title":{"rendered":"Cheese + Wine: Sauvignon Blanc"},"content":{"rendered":"

Green is a dangerous word in the wine world. Often it\u2019s meant as an insult, an insinuation that the grapes used to make a wine weren\u2019t quite ripe—resulting in unpleasant \u201cgreen\u201d flavors that are more vegetal than fruity.<\/p>\n

But when it comes to sauvignon blanc, green is its identity, and—particularly in the summer, when all is verdant—it can be a wonderful characteristic. Sometimes the taste conjures a pale, gentle green, like the feathery tips of field grass. Other times it\u2019s more strident, as bright as a lime or crisp, blanched asparagus. Or it\u2019s guava-hued, soft and round.<\/p>\n

To identify the various shades of green you might savor in a bottle, look to where the grapes were grown. The warmer and sunnier the climate, the riper the wines, so it follows that California tends to produce some of the fruitier, gentler sauvignon blancs of the world. Even in the cooler reaches of the state—say, Sonoma\u2019s Russian River Valley, a stronghold for the variety—sauvignon blanc tends to be plump, more limey and smooth than herbal and sharp.<\/p>\n

New Zealand has practically made its winemaking name with sauvignon blanc. Although it\u2019s a relatively cool country, there\u2019s an ozone hole above it, so vines there receive more UV rays (45 to 50 percent more, according to some studies) than most. The result is sauvignon blanc that\u2019s pungently green, whether in a robust herbal vein or a rich kiwi and passion fruit style\u2014—try wines from Cloudy Bay, Kim Crawford, or Nautilus Estate to get the gist.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the Loire Valley, widely considered the holy grail for sauvignon blanc. This is the land of Pouilly-Fum\u00e9 and Sancerre, of cloudy gray skies and rolling hills. It\u2019s damp and often chilly—though exceedingly pretty, with castles plucked from fairy tales and lush farmland for grazing goats.<\/p>\n

Here, sauvignon blanc rarely reaches tropical richness; more often, it tastes of herbs, citrus zest, salt, and stone. It\u2019s wine that plays exceptionally well with a wide range of food, from freshwater fish pulled from the region\u2019s rivers and oysters shipped up from the cold Atlantic to Parisian bistro favorites like chicken paillard and vegetable flan.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also a brilliant match with goat cheese<\/a>, one of the trickier cheeses to pair with wine. Goat cheese has a particular trio of fatty acids—capric, caprylic, and caproic—that lend its essential, \u201cgoaty\u201d flavor. Goaty is good, but it can get out of hand with red wine.<\/p>\n

The tang in goat cheese also demands a wine with a good bit of acidity. At the same time, goat cheese has less fat than cow\u2019s milk cheese, so it\u2019s more delicate.<\/p>\n

Cool-climate sauvignon blanc, with its sprightly acidity and herbal flavors, covers all these bases. It has personality in spades, yet it won\u2019t overwhelm or overpower the cheese.<\/p>\n

Of course, France\u2019s Loire doesn\u2019t have the corner on the market; you\u2019ll find nervy, herbal sauvignon blancs in Chile\u2019s San Antonio Valley and cool pockets of California, Northern Italy, South Africa, and New Zealand. Perhaps the best thing to do is follow the herd: Where there are vines and goats, sauvignon blanc is a natural.<\/p>\n

Sauvignon Blanc for Goat Cheeses<\/h3>\n