Introduction
One of the first wines I drank in my early twenties was Sauvignon Blanc. The Mateus Rosé we started our wine adventure with was becoming too sweet for the palate. We needed a value dry wine to pair with Aussie Garlic Prawns. Out jumped an inexpensive bottle of Entre-Deux-Mers!
The name Entre-Deux-Mers comes from marée, the French word for the tide. The two rivers are subject to the influence of ocean tides, and the region is thus entre Deux Marées, or “between two tides”.
Mouton Cadet was our brand. A light-bodied, dry, refreshing white wine with flavours of lemon, white peach and notes of white flower blossoms.
Sauvignon Blanc over the Globe
Sauvignon Blanc is grown all over the world but there are five regions that capture the nuances of the grape.
- The quintessential Bordeaux appellation for Sauvignon Blanc is Graves which takes its name from its soil, the French word for gravel. The wine has a subtle citrus character and the Sémillon blends reveal honeysuckle.
- The white wines of Sancerre in the Loire Valley may be the purest expression of the grape highlighting a steely grace and minerality in the form of wet stone! There are also nice wafts of white peach, fresh-cut grass and green bell pepper.
- California has its’ own Sauvignon Blanc clone which exhibits a straw colouration and ripe grapefruit and Mandarin orange on the palate.
- Chile also grows the California clone but here the wines are crisp with strong minerality.
- New Zealand now has a huge share of the global Sauvignon Blanc market. The Marlborough region is the most famous. The wine comes alive with tropical fruit – kiwi, pineapple etc. I have spent many wonderful hours poolside sipping Monkey Bay, Kim Crawford and their friends in the Phoenix heat.
BC Sauvignon Blanc
This brings us to British Columbia and the Okanagan style. Sauvignon Blanc is the 5th most popular white varietal. The styles vary from flinty Sancerre to creamy Bordeaux Sémillon blends and extend to cool New Zealand style with tropic fruit notes.
So with this introduction, here in no particular order, is the Top 12 BC Sauvignon Blanc wines for good value.
Black Market Collusion 2019 ($25.90)
50% Sauvignon Blanc, 50% Sémillon.
The Sauvignon Blanc is sourced from the SLOW Vineyard in Naramata, the Sémillon from a vineyard between Oliver and Osoyoos. The Sauvignon Blanc was so dominant that this year it was reduced from the normal 75% in the Collusion blend. A portion of the Sauvignon Blanc was fermented and aged in neutral oak barrels. The rest of the Sauvignon Blanc was fermented in stainless steel. The Sémillon was barreled fermented and aged in neutral oak for 10 months.
The blend is a marriage of the acidity and brightness from the Sauvignon Blanc with the texture and creaminess from the Semillon.
11.8% Alcohol, TA 7.3 gm/L, RS 1.4 gm/L
The vibrant dry white blend has perfect acid levels with citrus blossom on the nose. On the palate honeydew melon, gooseberry and grapefruit, minerality, caramel and butterscotch from the addition barrel ageing and with a light to medium body. A very elegant white wine. Great to drink alone or paired with seafood. 92 Points
Winemaker’s CUT Sauvignon Blanc 2020 ($24)
Vineyards – 100% Sauvignon Blanc from Estate Vineyard, Deadman Lake Vineyard, Oliver BC. 450 cases were produced.
Harvest– hand-harvested 17th and 26th Sept. 2020 at an average of 22.0 Brix, 4 tons per acre
Winemaking – cold-soaked for 1 day, wild and organic yeast fermented for 48 days. 25% Slovakian oak.
Technical Data – 12.0 % Alcohol, 3.27 pH, 7.5 TA, 4.1 RS
Aromas of citrus and tropical fruits. The wine is alive when it reaches your tongue. A very vibrant wine. Flavours of pineapple, kiwi, lemon, key lime and red grapefruit. The wine has a light creamy texture, with minerality and a long finish.
A fruit-forward style wine that is great with seafood or standalone. It was paired with BBQ Pork Tenderloin and was amazing. Enjoy this fabulous BC example of Sauvignon Blanc! 92 Points
For other excellent Winemaker’s CUT wines see Winemaker’s CUT 2021 Releases.
River Stone Sauvignon Blanc 2022 ($23.90)
The grapes for the Sauvignon Blanc came from the Boulder City Vineyard and a neighbouring vineyard located just North of Oliver on the west side of the valley.
Alcohol 12.3% / pH 3.12 / TA 7.57/ RS 8.2
This is a wonderful Sauvignon Blanc, the best I have tasted so far this year! Aromas of citrus, and tropical fruits with floral jasmine notes. Flavours of lemon/lime, pineapple, honeydew melon and passionfruit with green apple on the finish. A beautifully textured mouthfeel. 92 Points
Township 7 Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2021
The 2021 vintage is considered one of the most challenging BC wine-growing seasons. The extremely hot summer, with late June temperatures as high as 47 0C meant the BC Harvest was started and completed several weeks earlier than normal. Although, yields were down again the fruit quality was high with very ripe, small berries, exploding with flavour.
This vintage is crafted with fruit from our estate Blue Terrace Vineyard in North Oliver. Its stony soils retain heat throughout the cool September evenings allowing the fruit to ripen thoroughly and providing a distinct minerality to the grapes. This 100% barrel fermented, and aged (7 months) Sauvignon Blanc is fermented in 15% new and 85% neutral French oak barrels all coming from the Bordeaux region. Lees stirring occurred weekly during fermentation on both batches contributing to the full mouthfeel and balancing the crisp acidity.
Alcohol 13.2% | pH 3.37 | TA 6.2 g/l | RS 2.6 g/l | Vegan
The wine rekindled fond memories of sipping California Fume´Blanc on the Santa Barbara pier.
The oak-aged Sauvignon Blanc is bright and aromatic with vibrant aromas of passion fruit, honeycomb and herbs. Flavours of green apple, gooseberry and Meyer lemon zest with perfectly integrated toasted oak. The wine has a wonderfully rounded mouthfeel. There are very few BC oaked Sauvignon Blanc to choose from and the Township 7 wine is perfection! 92 Points.
Mayhem Sauvignon Blanc 2022 ($20.97)
The overall 2022 growing season has provided outstanding fruit for the 2022 Sauvignon Blanc. It was hand-picked on October 14th from a single vineyard on the Naramata Bench.
This fruit was gently whole bunch pressed and only the best juice was taken. The juice was racked off its lees and fermented slowly in stainless steel over an 8-week period with maximum fermentation temperatures only reaching 12C to preserve the delicate aromatics. The final blend consists of 93% in stainless steel tank and 7% in seasoned barrique. The wine was then aged for 4 months on fine lees before bottling.
Alcohol 12.0% | pH 3.09| TA 8.48| RS 3.8
This is a dry New Zealand-style “tropical” Sauvignon Blanc, perfect for pairing with seafood. The wine opens with intense aromas of tropical fruit. The light wine has flavours that start with a passionfruit buzz and key lime zest followed by kiwifruit, and fresh mango. Pristine, reinvigorating and ready to drink! 92 Points
Chronos Sauvignon Blanc 2020 ($29.99)
Hand-harvested, and hand sorted, the Sauvignon Blanc comes from the Silver Barrel Vineyard between Penticton and Okanagan Falls. The grapes were whole-bunch pressed followed by a slow cool ferment and then straight to the bottle to capture all the aromatics.
Aromas of citrus, and tropical fruits with floral notes. Flavours of pineapple, honeydew melon and passionfruit with green apple on the finish. A perfectly balanced wine. 91 Points
Siren’s Call Sauvignon Blanc Sémillon 2018 ($22)
Alcohol, 10.9 %, RS 5.9 g/l, TA 7.3 g/l.
The grapes were sourced from the Kismet Vineyard in Osoyoos.
This is an elegant and refined classic white blend.
Grassy herbal notes and a pleasant floral aroma from 75% Sauvignon Blanc.
The wine is well-balanced with tropical notes of pineapple, lemon, lime and guava from 25 % Sémillon which was aged in French Oak for extra depth and character. 90 Points
Sumac Ridge Private Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2019 ($13.99)
The majority of the grapes for the Sumac Ridge Sauvignon Blanc come from the McIntyre vineyard just east of Oliver, BC. The grapes were picked twice – half were picked early in the season and the rest approximately 1 week later. This allowed for different flavours to develop and added some complexity to the final product. It was 100% stainless steel fermented at 12C for about 10 days.
On the nose, green apple and lemon zest with hints of spice. On the palate, medium-bodied, herbal and green notes tend to dominate the grapefruit and lemongrass flavours with just enough minerality to balance the fruit.
The finish is long and flavourful, with just a touch of sweetness. 88 Points
Clos du Soleil Capella 2019 ($26.90)
Vineyard Sources: Whispered Secret Vineyard, Keremeos BC (SB); Dhaliwal Bros Vineyard, Oliver BC (Sémillon) – 83% Sauvignon Blanc, 17% Sémillon.
Each vineyard block was separately harvested, by hand, at peak maturity. The grapes were whole-cluster pressed and then fermented entirely in barrels (82% French oak puncheons, 18% stainless steel barrels) with the majority undergoing only wild, spontaneous fermentation. 1/4 of the barrels were also allowed to undergo wild malolactic fermentation. All lots were barrel-aged for nine months, on the lees, with lees stirring.
The final wine was created by blending together just the very best barrel lots, in order to create a wine of true complexity and elegance.
Alcohol 13.5% | pH 3.07 |TA 8.33 gm/L | RS .6 gm/L
The classic Bordeaux blend is a gorgeous rich straw colour. Vibrant aromas of grapefruit, lemon and lime zest and meadow grasses. The wine has complex flavours of Meyer lemon, Key Lime and pink grapefruit with a hint of passionfruit and tropical notes. The dry wine has fresh vigorous acidity, an elegantly textured mouthfeel from the sur lie ageing and a supple mineral backbone. 92 points.
The SB is excellent with all seafood and roasted chicken.
Dirty Laundry Sauvignon Blanc 2022 ($20.99)
100% Summerland Sauvignon Blanc picked in late September. The fruit was from two vineyards and the grapes were fermented separately with different yeasts to give blending options later. The fruit was de-stemmed and crushed and soaked on skins for 2 hours under C02 in the press before gently pressing off skins into stainless tanks.
Lees stirring in the stainless tanks was performed once daily during fermentation to build complexity and body. Fermentation temperatures were kept low to preserve the delicate aromatics of Sauvignon Blanc.
Alcohol 12% / pH 3.4 / TA 6.9 gm/L, / RS 2.23 gm/ L
A very pale lemon colour. A medium-bodied white with airy aromas of tropical fruit and citrus. The mouthfeel is crisp, fresh and fruity. Perfectly balanced acidity with flavours of pineapple, lemon, lime, mandarin orange, passion fruit and a touch of gooseberry. 91 Points.
Red Rooster Sauvignon Blanc 2020
The grapes are from the Oliver Vineyard with glaciofluvial rock soils that support minerality and freshness. 100% stainless steel ageing. 12.5% Alcohol.
Clear and bright with an aroma of white blossoms and stone fruit. The dry SB has a light to medium body and a smooth yet refreshing mouthfeel. Flavours of green apple, passionfruit and Meyer lemon with a hint of honeycomb and minerals on the refreshing finish. Enjoy now with seafood. 91 points
Church & State Sauvignon Blanc 2019 ($23)
Stainless steel fermentation, aged for 6 months with 10% in French Oak.
13.3 % Alcohol | TA 6.3 g/L | RS 4.1g/L
Bright yellow appearance with hints of green. Initial aromas of lime and grapefruit open into white peach and tropical fruit. A medium-body wine with vibrant acidity, mineral notes, subtle saline and elegant citrus that leans toward white grapefruit. 91 Points
Conclusion
British Columbia winemakers deliver many excellent Sauvignon Blanc. I would love to hear from you about these wines or other great BC Sauvignon Blancs I have missed sampling in the comment section below.