In the old days, sauvignon blanc from the Loire region of France was among the best sauvignon blanc in the world. It was the original anti-chardonnay: crisp, fresh, minerally, and not much fruit. Then the modern wine business happened, and Loire's wines became, if not irrelevant, a lot less important. New Zealand became the predominant sauvignon blanc region, and the rest of the world mostly copied what New Zealand was doing.
This always depressed the Wine Curmudgeon; as much as I like New Zealand's wines, I miss the old style Loire whites. Some of them are still around, of course, but they cost $30 and often difficult to find. The less expensive ones, if not complete knockoffs of New Zealand's grapefruit style, have still morphed into something they never used to be.
That's the dilemma I found myself in with the Chevaunet ($10, purchased). There is nothing wrong with it -- clean, well made, pleasing and refreshing. It's nice by itself, and shines as a food wine, especially with some shrimp marinated in olive oil and garlic. But there is too much grapefruit and lime fruit and not enough minerality to mark it as traditional Loire wine. So I'll keep looking for Loire the way I remember it, and let you make your own judgments about this.
Comments