Silky Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blancs generally do not lend themselves to oak ageing and are normally much less expensive than Chardonnays. They tend to go well with salads, seafood and some pasta dishes

Sauvignon Blanc ("saw vee nyon blahnk") is the second best-known white wine grape in the world.

It originated in Bordeaux, France, where the name (which means "wild white") indicates its origins as a local grape variety, and today is grown all over the world - particularly in Italy and the US. In Bordeaux the varietal is often combined with Semillon, where the blend is also used to produce the 'Late Harvest' dessert wines of Sauternes: the 2001 vintage of Chateau D'Yquem Sauternes is rated at 100 points and a price of $400 per bottle by Wine Spectator.

Sauvignon Blancs are otherwise always dry and crisp, although the aroma could vary from lime and citrus to gooseberries and passion fruit to ripe peach, depending on whether the vineyards are cool-climate or in warmer locations. In the Loire Valley the wines are called 'Pouilly Fume' (not to be confused with Pouilly Fuisse from Chardonnay grapes in the Rhone Valley). Robert Mondavi produced a barrel-aged version in California he called 'Fume Blanc', which was quite a marketing coup.

However it was really the Sauvignon Blancs from the Marlborough region of New Zealand (the northern tip of their South Island) that made Sauvignon Blanc all the rage. The charge was led by Cloudy Bay Vineyards, who produced their first Sauvignon Blanc as recently as 1985: the wine was notably fruit-forward, with a pronounced varietal character that had loads of cut grass and ripe guava aromas as compared to the somewhat restrained and austere wines from Bordeaux and the Loire Valley. Since then New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs have carved out a leading position in wine sales worldwide - top labels include Brancott Estate, Saint Clair, Dogpoint, Matua, Greywacke, Astrolabe, and Villa Maria, all with ratings of over 90 points ("excellent") on the Wine Spectator scale.

In India, Sula was the first producer to launch Sauvignon Blanc as a varietal wine back in 2001, to much acclaim. More lately Grover's 2014 Art Series Sauvignon Blanc won an International Trophy and gold medal at the 2014 Decanter Asia Wine Awards (DAWA) 2014 held in Hong Kong against stiff international competition - the grapes were reputedly from Darby Raju's 70-acre Bangalore Soma Vineyards near Bengaluru, and the wine was produced by Karishma Grover at the Doddaballarpur winery. All other Indian wine producers now feature a Sauvignon Blanc in their portfolio, but most have little varietal character and are 'just ok' - with the notable exception of the Krsma Sauvignon Blanc from North Karnataka, which has repeatedly won accolades in tastings, both in India and overseas.

Sauvignon Blancs generally do not lend themselves to oak ageing and are normally much less expensive than Chardonnays. The wine was among the first to be bottled with a screw-cap (in New Zealand) and tends to go well with salads, seafood, most cheeses and some pasta dishes - it doesn't go so well with spicy Indian cuisine.

Wines I've been drinking: I sampled a trio of New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs at a recent Bangalore Wine Club dinner at the Marriott Whitefield: Saint Clair 2015 (WS 88 points, Rs 2,701), Mud House 2014 (WS 89 points, Rs 1,990) and Cloudy Bay 2015 (WS 92 points, Rs 3,495). The Saint Clair and Cloudy Bay labels were both terrific, with typical fruity and grassy aromas and clean, crisp tastes. While the Cloudy Bay was better, I thought the Saint Clair was better value. Do try both when you can.

Alok Chandra is a Bengaluru-based wine consultant