After having a delightful wine tasting of French red wines at The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan we walked into the original part of the shop and we had a chance to try three special Sauvignon Blanc wines.

The first wine we tried was Domaine de Chevalier L’Esprit de Chevalier Blanc Pessac-Leognan 2022 from Famille Bernard.  Domaine de Chevalier is a highly-regarded estate and it was classified as a Grand Cru Classé de Graves in 1959 for both its red and white wines. The estate has about sixty hectares on gravel and clay  rich soils, and about a third of the estate is devoted to seventy percent Sauvignon Blanc and thirty percent Semillon. In 1983, the Domaine was purchased by the Famille Bernard and has been maintained by the family ever since. Their second label “L’Esprit de Chevalier” was created in 1989 using fruit from younger planted vines and from lots that did not get approval for the first label.  The fruit is hand-harvested, and this is the second year after the conversion to organic farming.  While the first label is aged for eighteen months, the second label is aged for nine months in French Oak, with fermentation and racking done directly in the barrels.  This pale whitish-green wine offered notes of lemon tart, key lime, freshly cut straw and white florals, with a touch of honeycomb and coriander seed.  On the palate this dry, medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of tropical fruits, lychee, lime and ended with a medium-count finish of minerals (terroir), pineapple and caramel.  An excellent second label wine.

The second wine that we had was Stewart Cellars Sauvignon Blanc Oakville, Napa Valley 2022.  Stewart Cellars is now a second-generation family-owned winery since 1999.   Michael Stewart, was a successful Texas businessman who originally thought of this as a post-retirement venture, but when his son and daughter joined he and his wife, the venture took off.  The fruit for this wine came from the Money Lane Vineyard, in a plot surrounded by Cabernet Sauvignon vines in Oakville using sustainable farming techniques and minimal intervention winemaking.  The fruit is pressed whole cluster, fermented and aged in Stainless-Steel tanks at cool temperatures to retain aromatic and bright flavors, with no Malolactic Fermentation.  A pale golden-colored wine that offered notes of tropical fruits, lemon and lime, and green apples.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed notes of honeydew melon, guava, pineapple and lemon and lime zest with a satiny, silky mouthfeel that had a nice medium to long count finish of fruit and citrus.  A very sexy wine and it got most of our attention for our cellar. 

Then we finished the tasting with Chateau d’Yquem “Y” Ygrec Bordeaux 2021, from one of the most legendary wineries in the world (if I may say) and it was stunning; I will offer some background notes, because if you are like me, it is not a wine that one encounters that often.  It was originally made at the end of the harvest with the last bunches of grapes since 1959 and in 1966 the selection of the grapes changed, and the wine is sixty percent Sauvignon Blanc picked at the beginning of the harvest and forty percent of Semillon with Botrytis and in 2004 the brand was to be produced every vintage.  They now have a state-of-the-art vat room just to make this wine and the aging on the lees take place in the barrels, one-third of which are new, and the lees are regularly stirred for ten months. This is a white wine that is considered by many to cellar for twenty years, and while I do like to get multiple bottles of wine, in our retirement we passed on this lovely wine.  A pale-yellow wine offering notes of pears, lime blossoms, vanilla, fennel and almonds.  On the palate this wine displayed tones of white fruits, with traces of pear and lime, chalk and white pepper with refreshing acidity, and a very long finish of saline, pears, almonds, and that chalky terroir. I thought this wine was awesome, this may be the freshest and liveliest white wine that I have ever tasted, and I knew that my Bride would have freaked, if I had added it to the list, but I did think long and hard.  Oh, by the way, if you are curious the “Y” is pronounced “ee-grek” in French.