Drinking and Pairing Sauvignon Blanc with Food

Sauvignon Blanc, aka Fumé-Blanc in California, is the dry, high-acid, herbal, and grapefruit-scented white wine widely cultivated in central France, northeastern Italy, California, South Africa, and notably New Zealand. The grape variety produces excellent wines in the France's Loire Valley, where the regions of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé produce the benchmark examples for the rest of the winegrowing world. While Sauvignon Blanc is almost always fermented and aged in stainless steel tanks, in Bordeaux it is often blended with the fatter Sémillon grape and sometimes aged in oak barrels. Sauvignon Blanc is grown extensively throughout the New World but the country of New Zealand stands apart from the rest, with their signature being a zesty and pungently aromatic style.

Pair Sauvignon Blanc with salad greens and other sharp ingredients like capers, tomatoes, and vinaigrettes. Sautéed white fish, oysters, smoked salmon, and foods flavored with fresh herbs all work well with Sauvignon Blanc. It is classic with goat's milk cheeses especially those from the Sancerre region such as Crotin de Chavignol and chèvre.