Welcome to the first “First Taste”. ☺_ First Taste is a new weekly guide to help anyone interested in learning more about a particular wine style or region. Each week, we’ll feature a different wine style by providing you a short description, a few suggested bottles at reasonable prices, and some food pairing ideas. Whether you’re a wine novice or “a nose”, First Taste has something for everyone. So sit back, grab a glass, and let’s start our first First Taste.

As we move towards the warm days of spring, you may want to put down the heavy red and start reaching for a light, crisp, and refreshing white wine. White wine is a perfect match for the spring season not only because of the weather, but food that’s “in season” pairs really well with a glass of white. So for our first First Taste, we’re going Down-Unda to discuss New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

New Zealand is one of the new and exciting wine growing regions in the world, and it has quickly claimed top accolades for their Sauvignon Blanc’s from the sunny region of Marlborough. These wines have an unmatched, distinctive concentration of the herbaceous aromas and flavors found common in Sauvignon Blanc’s. Other flavors that can develop are of cut grass, green pepper, and passion fruit. Some of the finer Sauvignon Blanc’s from New Zealand even having aging potential. As these wines age, more complex aromas of asparagus and peas develop, though I’d recommend enjoying them while they are young and fresh.

Though they are considered the world’s benchmark, Sauvignon Blanc’s from New Zealand remain at very affordable prices. You can get great bottles for less then $15, making it a perfect house white. As time goes on, the prices might start creeping up so you should stocking up now.

New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc also pairs well with many different types of food. If you’re having a cheese night, you should drink this aromatic wine with fondue, goat cheese dishes, or possibly quesadillas. Seafood screams out for NZ Sauvignon Blanc’s because of the zesty, crispness both the wine and food exude. Try it with some tuna tartare or carpaccio, ceviche, and, for one of personal favorites, spicy crab cakes. These are just a few of the many pairings for this highly, versatile wine.

With that, I am going to pour myself a glass and go eat!

		2005 Babich - Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough Currently available at Wine.com for $12.99 View all prices

		2005 Dashwood - Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough Currently available at Morrell & Company for $12.95 View all prices

		2001 Highfield - Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough Currently available at Taylor & Norton Wine Merchants for $13.99 View all prices

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 2nd, 2006 at 7:23 am and is filed under First Taste. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.