Sauvignon Blanc

This will sound spoilt, but staring into a glass of champagne the other day, I found myself wishing I was drinking something else. There are times when only bubbles are sprightly enough to capture and celebrate a moment. But there are also times when a bottle of fizz is opened as a treat or reward, and oh how I wish that £25 had been spent on something else.

The champenois have been very clever in training us to think of a bottle of champagne as an event, not a drink. It puts the expenditure into a different mental compartment, so we're happier to break into a stash of tenners rather than squeezing a bottle into the night's food budget. But if only we'd occasionally move slowly away from the champagne – or the cava or prosecco, for that matter – and upgrade our choice of still wine instead, how much more fun we'd have.

Mas de Subira Priorat 2006 (£9.74 when you buy two Spanish wines, Majestic ; 14.5% abv), which is plush and scented and opens up to your nose like a deep red velvet rose – a superb find at less than a tenner (my apologies also for not managing to squeeze this into a column at its even cheaper introductory price).

St Aubin 1er Cru 2006 (£17.99, Marks & Spencer ; 13.5% abv) is just beginning to develop, so that you catch a hint of autumn leaves and mushrooms on the nose.

Wine: Burst the bubble - The Guardian

Twenty years ago, they debated what it should taste like. The purists argued that it was naturally lean and crisp, with hints of minerals, cut grass and even gunflint.

Pragmatists countered that, yeah, but we want to make a living, and customers prefer it tasting like ripe pineapples -- in other words, like chardonnay.

The purists seem to be winning. More sauvignon blancs are being made in the leaner style, with cool fermentation and little or no oak barrel aging. These crisp, intensely fruity wines are better than either camp was making two decades ago.

It's a crisp, rich, minerally, grapefruit-on-steroids flavor that easily identifies a wine as from Kiwiland -- and that many California winemakers are replicating.

Toast the purists for crisp, fruity sauvignon blanc - GoErie.com

Sommelier Jonathan Rosenson will conduct a dinner featuring wines and food of Spain, at 7 p.m. Thursday for $79 a person, plus tax and tip. Menu: scabeche salad with pickled mackerel, with 2006 Morgadio albarino; Korobuta pork loin with plantains, pancetta and black lentils, with 2007 Numanthia tempranillo; paella with scallops, clams, mussels and saffron, with 2001 Finca la Planeta pasanau; and aged manchego cheese, with 2006 Carinena Latria grancha. Reservations are requested. The Wine Tasting Trolley departs from the Sky Room's Wine Down Lounge at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 10 and winds through downtown Long Beach art deco landmarks, carrying participants who pay $35 plus tax to sip four 2-ounce samplings of wine explained by Rosenson and to taste hors d'oeuvres. When the bus returns at 7:30 p.m., the participants are invited upstairs for a bonus drink and a 360-degree view of the Long Beach sky. Menu: wild mushroom and goat cheese tartlet, with 2008 Coquelicot sauvignon blanc; jamon blanco with tomato bruschetta, with 2008 Corte Giara pinot grigio; beef empanadas, with 2007 Adastra merlot and 2007 Sans Liege "Groundwork" grenache. Reservations and prepayment are required, and the event is nonrefundable.

Pinot noirs under $10 will be served in Riedel stemware from 1 to 4 p.m. at Saturday's stand-up tasting at the bar. For $20, you'll get 10 1 1/2-ounce samples, plus artisan cheeses and Babette's Feast baguettes. Participants are requested not to wear fragrances. Cabernet francs, including Lang & Reed, Couchant, Samur-Champigny and Chinon & Bourgeuil, will be sampled at the stand-up commuter tasting from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday. For $10, you'll get five 2-ounce samples, plus artisan cheeses and Babette's Feast baguettes. Samantha Dugan and Bennett Traub will lead a tasting of pinot noirs from the Old and New Worlds, at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 10 for $50 a person. Seating is limited, and reservations are required.

Tastings from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday are $7 for six to 10 1-ounce samples from among 2004 zinfandel, merlot, cabernet sauvignon and California port; 2005 sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, petite sirah and cabernet franc; and 2006 syrah and merlot and nonvintage chocolate port. Tasting is free with wine purchase.

Winemaker Enrique Tirado of Chile will be the special guest at a dinner featuring Chilean wines paired with dishes created by Executive Chef Luis Martinez, at 6:30 p.m. Thursday for $75 a person, plus tax and tip. Menu: nickel crab cakes topped with mango aioli, warm crusty pear and Brie puff pastries, and mushroom polenta smothered in goat cheese, with CyT Casillero del Diablo sauvignon blanc; fresh shrimp, avocado and papaya salad mixed with arugula and vinaigrette, then topped with queso fresco, with Marques de Casa Concho chardonnay; eggplant ravioli with heirloom tomato puree and shaved pecorino cheese, with Marques de Casa Concho merlot; oven-roasted lamb osso bucco with a roasted-garlic cabernet sauce, served with saffron-infused risotto, with Don Melchor cabernet; and key lime pie, with Concha y Toro late harvest sauvignon blanc.

Local Tastings - Long Beach Press-Telegram

The local grape has overtaken other varieties to become Rueda's pride and joy. With refreshing notes and reasonable prices, locals have plenty to toast.

Verdejo makes for one of the most delightful white wines of summer: aromatic and lively, with refreshing lime fruit and pretty jasmine notes. The price range is reasonable, about $9 to $20. No wonder Rueda is the only region in Spain where exports actually increased during the worldwide economic downturn of 2009.

Verdejo's comeback is a feel-good story for people who don't want wine everywhere to be the same. As recently as 1993, only 30% of the grapes planted in Rueda were Verdejo. Today it's more than 80%.

Get breaking news alerts delivered to your mobile phone. Text BREAKING to 52669. "We have a flag in Rueda, and that flag is Verdejo. It's what distinguishes us from the rest of the world," says Ramón Bocos Ruiz, secretary of the region's governing body, the Consejo Regulador D.O. Rueda.

Verdejo reigns in Rueda - Los Angeles Times

RUEDA, Spain — The vintners of the Rueda appellation like to say they make Spain's best white wine. The albariño producers in Rias Baixas, in far northwestern Spain, almost certainly would disagree, but clearly Rueda is doing something right. Last year, as Spanish wine sales overall declined, sales of Rueda wines were up, and it was the only appellation in Spain that increased exports.

The signature grape of Rueda, northwest of Madrid, is verdejo, a white variety believed to have arrived in the area in the 11th century. There is also some sauvignon blanc, as well as two other white grapes, viura and palomino; less than 10 percent of the area's vineyard acreage is devoted to red grapes.

The signature grape of Rueda, northwest of Madrid, is verdejo, a white variety believed to have arrived in the area in the 11th century. There is also some sauvignon blanc, as well as two other white grapes, viura and palomino; less than 10 percent of the area's vineyard acreage is devoted to red grapes. "If you are speaking about Rueda in general, you must speak of verdejo," says Pablo del Villar of Hermanos del Villar, which produces the Oro de Castilla brand.

Good verdejo is very fresh, aromatic and somewhat similar to sauvignon blanc, but with more fleshy stone-fruit and pear notes. It's a grape with high acidity and a tendency toward some bitterness; many wines finish with a slight bitterness that's not unpleasant and is tempered by food. The wines are a natural match to seafood, but I also found that they were delicious with Spain's cured pork products because they cut through the fat and salt.

On Wine: Spanish Verdejo - San Jose Mercury News