Top Napa Valley Sauvignon Blancs

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Top Napa Valley Sauvignon Blancs Sauvignon Blanc is a wine of many faces. From the grassy exuberance of the finest New Zealand bottling, to the subdued elegance in Bordeaux expressions, it's a grape that has found a home around the world. The Napa Valley has struggled with their Sauvignon Blanc identity for years, but slowly one is emerging.

Ironically, it was the style pioneered decades ago by Robert Mondavi. The use of a little bit of wood while producing Sauvignon Blanc may yield a wine that is not appreciated by all palates, but at the same time seems to produce the best Sauvignon Blanc that the valley can offer. It's tough to criticize winemakers for making better wines, especially when they will undoubtedly face criticism from wine ideologues! I'm not an ideologue, so I'm ready to go with the flow here and the flow is telling me, a bit of wood is the way forward for Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc!

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John-
Galvan

885953 1

Cakebread Cellars 2010 Sauvignon Blanc is my favorite.

Jul 14, 2011 at 3:56 PM
Wykd Imp

479352 10

Red Mare 2010 SB by Anne Vawter or Ziata 2010 SB (Karen Cakebread's label, made by Anne Vawter.) Anne has been Heidi Barrett's assistant at Paradigm for 5+ years. Both wines are chockful of intense, sassy character.
And don't forget that perpetual favorite - Honig.

Jul 14, 2011 at 4:16 PM
mamelok

639815 17

Alpha Omega makes several nice Sauvignon Blancs. One is aged in wood and one is not; the latter is great with oysters.

Jul 14, 2011 at 5:52 PM
Britt-
Starr

886054 1

SF Chronicle gives its top six recs for this year's Napa Valley Sauv Blancs: http://bit.ly/nh8Je8

Jul 14, 2011 at 6:25 PM
it2daddy

Hand of Snooth Voice of Snooth

622990 50

wow - the Clos Pegase / Napa is a 14.5%? Was the 2009 vintage in Napa that warm?

Jul 14, 2011 at 9:09 PM
homestar

512161 83

I notice most of these are $16-20 with 87/88 pts. One can and should be able to do better?

Jul 15, 2011 at 4:39 AM
brianburne-
tt

353606 25

I'm definitely in agreement of the St. Supery offerings. I go back to the entry level offering time and again for a refreshing summer time Sauv Blanc. The grapefruit and lime tones remind me more of NZ wines than most of its Napa counterparts.

Jul 18, 2011 at 3:26 PM