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Sauvignon
Sauvignon’s tangy, grassy qualities make it ideal to drink with asparagus, shellfish and all kinds of herby dishes
Sauvignon is actually a remarkably versatile food partner. Its tangy quality and high acid content makes it a fitting foil to soft creamy cheeses, goats’ cheese in particular, and its herbal grassy qualities make it the perfect partner for asparagus, which, of course, can play a major role in its aromas. It is fantastic with shellfish, particularly clams and lobster, and a good match with anything with a hollandaise sauce attached. Likewise it has enough bite and power to go well with some meats, particularly herb-laden pork sausages, its intrinsic acidity helping to cut through their naturally fatty content. Sauvignon is also great with many herbs, including the likes of tarragon, dill, lemon grass and mint, all of which bring out the grape’s own herbaceous nature but also help highlight the sweet edge to its fruit flavours.
Cheat Sheet
- Split personality
- There are several different versions of the sauvignon grape, including sauvignon jaune, sauvignon gris, sauvignon noir, sauvignon rose, and even sauvignon violet.
- Serious stuff
- Sauvignon is used to make some of Bordeaux’s best Graves whites, including the dry white from first-growth Château Haut-Brion. It is also part of the blend with semillon for the dry wine (pronounced ‘ee-grec’), that is produced by Château d’Yquem in Sauternes.
- True life
- There is, or was, an actual wine named Cat’s Pee on a Gooseberry Bush, made from sauvignon blanc.