Zinfandel

Don't buy them. After the advent of that horrid White Zinfandel, it's been all downhill, even for the reds.

Two Buck Chuck

When I lived in California, I went to a gourmet food and wine store called Trader Joe's. It's a great store in many ways, but especially if you are on a quest, as we are, to find great values in wines. They have a large selection of wines from all over the world, many of which are priced inexpensively. It's a great place to go treasure hunting.

One of the wines you will find there is a brand label called Charles Shaw. You can buy almost any varietal under this label: Cabernet, Merlot, Chardonnay, Shiraz, Sauvignon Blanc, etc. So what? Well, in California, they sell for two dollars a bottle. Yes, two dollars a bottle!!! Outside of California, it's a little more. And the wine is good. My favorite is the Shiraz. I bought a lot of it while I lived in California. Now, there is no Trader Joe's near me, so I can only go there once in a while. But when I do, I stock up on two buck Chuck Shiraz. My recommendation is to find a Trader Joe's if you can, buy one bottle of each variety of the Charles Shaw line, and then settle on your favorite.

White Bordeaux and Sauvignon Blanc

Bordeaux is most famous for it's super-premium Chateau red wines, plus the sublime desert wine Sauternes. But there is another, lesser known, side to Bordeaux: dry white wines. These are made from the Sauvignon Blanc grape, and they can be excellent. Unfortuntely, much of the white bordeaux we see is fair to poor, so we must be careful.

A good, white Bordeau is a brilliant golden yellow in color, and has tastes of butter, lemon, and tangerine. It is great as an aperitif or with seafood as a first course. To me, it's a nice change from the ubiquitous Chardonnay.

The best white Bordeaux comes from the Graves district, which gets it's name from it's gravelly soil. It is little known that Chateau Haut Brion, one of the creme-de-la-creme of the super elite Bordeaux red wine chateau, and which is in the Graves district, also produces (in very limited quantities) a dry white wine made from Sauvignon Blanc.

For a white Bordeaux, I like the generic Sauvignon Blanc from Premius (a brand name). It is labelled Bordeaux, so it doesn't necessarily come from Graves, but it is quite good and has a reasonable price, if you can find it. It has all the best attributes of a white Bordeaux.

I also have a few bottles of Chateau Maine-Bonnet, 2002 vintge, a white Bordeaux that is from Graves. This one is goood also, and I got it for under ten dollars, but it's not quite as enticing as the Premius.

I have recently tried another white Bordeaux called Chartron La Fleur. It will give you an idea of what this wine is all about, but it's a little thin. Worth trying, though.

Now lets talk about Sauvignon Blanc from elsewhere in the world. The grape does something different outside of Bordeaux. It usually produces what is often described as a grassy, earthy wine. It can be entrigueing, but you have to like this style of wine.

For an extreme example of this style of Sauvignon Blanc, try something from Australia called Silly Mid On (which is a Cricket term). The wine is actually a blend of 78% Sauvignon Blanc and 22% Semillion. It has a very unique taste, but is a bit pricey by our "great value" standards. Or try some other Australian Sauvignon Blanc.

For something more reserved, but still in the earthy style, try the Joel Gott Sauvignon Blanc from California. This is more reasonably priced, but still very good, and a little more subtle.

Finally, for a zestier style of Sauvignon Blanc, find something from New Zealand.

In all cases of Sauvignon Blanc from somewhere other than Bordeaux, try a single bottle first, and then go back for more if you like it. The earthy style is not for everyone.

White Bordeaux is hard to find, but worth the search.