Winemaker Notes
Sauvignon Blanc, a varietal with great personality, fully expresses its potential in certain winemaking areas, the best known being the Loire Valley in France, Marlborough in New Zealand, and the Friuli region of Italy. In more recent times, the coastal area of the Leyda in Chile has proven to be a world-class region for Sauvignon Blanc. Albaclara shows great varietal character offering a luminous light-yellow color. The nose is intense and vibrant with notes of citrus and herbs with excellent freshness created by the coastal region where it’s grown. The palate is persistent with notes of mint and citrus fruit sustained by great acidity.
Great enjoyed on its own or with spicy Thai or Indian dishes, as well as shellfish and oysters.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Give this a splash in a decanter to help it shed some of its youthfully green capsicum character and it turns toward fleshy notes of aloe, with a saline bitterness in the end. Executive Editor Tara Q. Thomas suggested serving it with stuffed green peppers.
Capable of a vast array of styles, Sauvignon Blanc is a crisp, refreshing variety that equally reflects both terroir and varietal character. Though it can vary depending on where it is grown, a couple of commonalities always exist—namely, zesty acidity and intense aromatics. This variety is of French provenance. Somm Secret—Along with Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc is a proud parent of Cabernet Sauvignon. That green bell pepper aroma that all three varieties share is no coincidence—it comes from a high concentration of pyrazines (herbaceous aromatic compounds) inherent to each member of the family.
The Maipo Valley is Chile’s most famous wine region. Set in the country’s Central Valley, it is warm and quite dry, often necessitating the use of irrigation. Alluvial soils predominate but are supplemented with loam and clay.
The climate in Maipo is best-suited for ripe, full-bodied reds like Cabernet Sauvignon (the region’s most widely planted grape), Merlot, Syrah and Carmenère, a Bordeaux variety that has found a successful home in Chile.
White wines are also produced with great prosperity, especially near the cooler coast, include Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.