A singular sauvignon blanc

One of the more unusual California whites I’ve tasted recently comes from Sbragia Family Vineyards – the 2008 “Home Ranch” Sauvignon Blanc from the Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma County. This is a singular sauvignon, notable for its rich complexity combined with refreshing acidity and minerality and an attractive $20 suggested price.

That complexity includes loads of tropical fruit and notes of honey and butterscotch, orange, white flowers, ginger and even a touch of spearmint, which make it a wine to sip and savor rather than quaff. Fermented in stainless steel and aged in three-year-old oak barrels, which it give it a subtle wood underlay but none of the cream or vanilla of new oak.

The bottle is sealed, by the way, with a “Vino-Seal” glass closure, which, for me, is yet another welcome alternative to cork beyond screw caps and plastic closures that are now widely in use.  More information at Sbragia’s Web site. (Wine received as a press sample.)