What’s your go to meal and your go to wine pairing during this period of Shelter in Place when we are not going to the store on a whim?

For me, the food is pesto, specifically nasturtium pesto because they grow wild in my yard so I have been able to harvest the leaves, and make a pesto for pasta, and pair them with…

Sauvignon Blanc!

And with everyone baking bread, one of the best pairings with crunchy sourdough is goat cheese and you guessed it —

Sauvignon Blanc!

And did you know you can take the base of the heart of a head of romaine lettuce and stick in water and it will grow? Then you can plant it in your Victory Garden and make it into a caesar salad which pairs beautifully with…

Sauvignon Blanc!

So with Sauvignon Blanc Day today May 1 and with so many Sheltering in Place — and Slurping in Place too — let’s take a look at four sauvignon blanc wines to pair with these dishes.

• Goat cheese
• 2 kinds of Sue’s sourdough bread
• Cesar Salad
• Nasturtium Pesto with biodynamic Penne Pasta
• Key Lime Pie

Sauvignon Blanc Wines

• Argentina’s 2019 Domaine Bousquet Organic
• Washington’s 2015 Mercer
• California’s 2015 and 2016 Clos des Amis
• NZ’s 2019 Nautilus

2019 Domaine Bousquet Sauvignon Blanc Tupungato Argentina
alc SRP $
sample for my review consideration 

We’ve written about Domaine Bousquet a few times; we appreciate their commitment to organic practices by making wine with organic grapes.

Sight: Palest of yellow with a bit of green tinge, and a clear platinum rim

Sniff: Sue got a sulphuric funk right off the bat; for me it is more minerals. It is very mild on the nose, light sea grass and ocean air, beach day wine.

Sip: Bright and tangy, very lemony, clean finish that is not super long lasting, but mild and pleasant. This is a very easy going gentle Sauvignon Blanc.

Pairing: The pesto pasta makes the wine come alive. Sauv Blanc and goat cheese is a classic pairing and with the homemade sourdough walnut bread it is over the top. Cesar salad is its perfect mate.

Pair with walnut sourdough and goat cheese.

2015 Mercer Horse Heaven Hills Sauvignon Blanc
alc SRP $15
sample for my review consideration

We’ve sampled Mercer before and written about Mercer’s winemaker Jessica Munnel here.

According to the winery, the fruit comes from their Princeton estate vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills. The vintage was marked by record breaking heat with machine harvesting two weeks earlier than usual which is when the heat tapered off and nights were cool. To accentuate the grapefruit and lychee notes, a certain yeast was used as well as stainless steel fermentation with no ML.

Sight: Very pale yellow with a clear platinum rim

Sniff: Tons of petrol up front on the nose. There isn’t much grass or fruit, perhaps a bit of lychee, but a slight bit of Chinese Five spice, or possibly Garam Masala.

Sip: Tart citrus on the forefront, the petrol is there but becomes more on the underlying end. Grapefruit on the finish, there is a nice tartness on the finish, kind of like a lemon lime sweet tart.

Pairing: Surprisingly, my go to pairings weren’t great with this wine. Cesar salad fought with it, nor did it do very well with the goat cheese and sourdough, although it did fine with the pesto. The Mercer destroys the flavors of the key lime pie.

Pair with pesto.

NOTE: It is possible that this wine already peaked. I’m not sure when I received this sample.

2016 Clos des Amis South Mountain Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc
alc SRP $18
sample for my review consideration

Last year I was busy bottling Sauv Blanc at  Clos des Amis which you can read about here. 

We also opened and sampled the 2015 which is super tart!

Sight: Lemondrop with the palest of rim

Sniff: Sulphuric funk, mossy green, ocean grass

Sip: Lots of acidity, very lemony, Sue was convinced she tasted vanilla bean, and once I got there we agreed that it was definitely the bean — the earthiness of the vanilla bean. There is also a roundness to this wine. While the tartness in the wine does go well with the tartness in the pie, it is not the most fabulous pairing of the evening.

Pairing: The Clos des Amis  really loves the Cesar salad. It loves the creaminess of the egg and the tart of the lemon. It is great with the pesto making the pesto almost sweet or bringing out the fruit in the wine. Cesar was perfect.

Pair with salad or pesto.

2019 Nautilus – Sauvignon Blanc – Marlborough
sample for my review consideration 

SB from NZ is so fun and distinct that we write about it every chance we get!

Sight: Pale with a green tinge.

Sniff: Gooseberries and grapefruit, so characteristic of New Zealand Sauv Blanc. Underlying sulphur, super fruit forward on the nose.

Sip: Grapefruit up front with grapefruit and kiwi on the back.

Pairing: Of all the wines, this was Sue’s favorite with the goat cheese on her walnut raisin sourdough bread. Great with the Cesar, great with the pesto, no surprise here.

For something wild and wonderful pair with key lime pie.

The key lime pie was perfect with the Nautilus Sauvignon blanc wine. The brightness of the wine was so perfect with the tart brightness of the pie.

Celebrate International Sauvignon Blanc Day with us on Friday 1st May 2020. Share what you’re up to using #sauvblancday #winemarlborough and #nzwine.