International Grape Varieties: Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Chenin Blanc
When we talk about the "international" grape varieties, those we find across the USA, South America, Australia, and beyond, we are, even now, really talking about French varieties. This is why I used France as a jumping off point: Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Sauvignon Blanc were all cultivated on a large scale in France.
These varieties took on prominence across the "new world" due in no small part to French wines' pre-eminence in export markets, most particularly in the UK and the US. These were the styles most emerging wine-producing nations wanted to emulate.
Sauvignon Blanc
Sauvignon Blanc is one of the parent grapes of Cabernet Sauvignon. It was first mentioned in 1783 in France as Sauvignon Fume in the area now producing Sancerre and Pouilly Fume. It has found its spiritual home away from home in New Zealand's Marlborough region.This wine is textbook Marlborough Sauvignon, with lashings of gooseberry, citrus and lime and a lovely herbaceous, nettly finish: Great with seafood and asparagus. 5% of the wine is fermented in old French oak, which imparts no oak flavour but the slight oxidation results in a creamy subtlety on the palate. A classic match for Goat's cheese and any kind of seafood, most particularly fresh lobster.
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is another grape that has found homes all over the world, but arguably nowhere as much as California whose Napa and Sonoma valleys make some of the world's best examples, commanding prices sometimes even higher than their Burgundian counterparts.We have here a more modestly priced but still excellent example from De Loach. The Chardonnay here is only partially fermented in Oak barrels so is not as overpoweringly oaked as some California examples but the generous almost tropical fruit character betrays its origins from the Sunshine State.
