| Chef
Promoting Sauvignon Blanc
by Peg Melnik
The
Press Democrat
July 28, 2004
If you only had one varietal to drink for the rest of your
life, what would it be?
For chef John Ash, it would be sauvignon blanc.
The culinary director for Brown-Forman wines is involved
in a side project called the Sauvignon Republic, a new brand
of sau-vignon blanc just beginning to show up in Sonoma
County restaurants and retailers.
The 2003 Russian River Valley, $15, was released last
month, and the 2004 Marlborough, also $15, will be released
next month. Future bottlings will be produced in wine-growing
regions that make distinct sauvignon blanc such as South
Africa, France and Chile.
"The thing that seems to capture everyone's fancy
is totally focusing on one varietal," Ash said.
This clever project has the potential to slowly change
the way people regard sauvignon blanc, which has always
been upstaged by chardonnay. With Ash behind the Sauvignon
Republic, over time mainstream America may begin to favor
sauvignon blanc as a food match.
"Sauvignon blanc has an adaptability of global food
flavors," Ash said. "It works well with Hispanic,
Asian and Mediterranean. It's crisp and clean, and brightens
up the food. It just sets you up to have another bite."
Ash said as an investor he'll play a small role in the
project, and he doesn't plan to go on a big publicity tour.
The Sauvignon Republic isn't playing up Ash's status as
celebrity chef on the bottle. Ash's name isn't on the front
or back label of the 2003 Russian River Valley wine.
The key player is actually John Buechsenstein, a former
winemaker at Fife Vineyards, who is the winemaker and general
manager for Sauvignon Republic. Others involved in the project
include Paul Dolan, the former president of Fetzer Vineyards
and author of "True to our Roots," and Tom Meyer,
a restaurateur who was a brand director for Kendall-Jackson
and Fetzer Vineyards. So far each bottling hasn't exceeded
3,500 cases.
The 2003 Russian River Valley is grassy, with notes of
lemon, lime and grapefruit. It's a good wine, but I expect
the 2004 Marlborough to be even better because this varietal
seems to be at its best when it hails from New Zealand.
I became convinced of this after tasting the crisp and bright
Gusto 2002 Marlborough made by Healdsburg winemaker Guy
Davis.
The Sauvignon Republic is going to pique the interest
of wine lovers who routinely travel the world by the glass.
They will no doubt compare and contrast bottlings, a tasty
game of geography.
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