2005 Chateau Montet Bordeaux Sauvignon

"Bordeaux" had always been synonymous with "red wine" in my mind. As I have admitted before, I am definitely a French wine neophyte. Living in California, I was always able to find a Californian (or Oregonian or Washington State) wine to suit the occasion or my mood. Out here on the East Coast, the selection of West Coast wines is a bit stunted, and I've had to begin to expand my wine repertoire.

I was thus surprised to stumble upon this tasty "white Bordeaux". I guess it seems pretty obvious that white grapes are grown alongside their more familiar red Bordeaux cousins of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petite Verdot and Malbec. But I had never thought of white wine coming out of Bordeaux.

And since I'd never thought about it, I had to learn a bit more about it. I'm a big fan of "full grape disclosure" on wine labels - I want to know which grapes were used in the bottle of wine I'm drinking. Apparently aside from the red grapes I listed above, Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon and Muscadelle are also grown in the Bordeaux region and used for white wine. Just like red Bordeaux wine, whites are usually (always?) a blend of two or all three of the white grapes listed.

Based on its name (and taste), I'm thinking that the 2005 Chateau Montet Bordeaux Sauvignon is mainly or completely Sauvignon Blanc. This wine was purchased for $8 at Total Wine in McLean, VA. This wine has a very nice, crisp taste. A little minerally, in a sort of Perrier sort of way (without the bubbles obviously), it also had some subtle fruit flavors, probably grapefruit.

We first had this wine with a Steampot dinner (take-out steamed crab, shrimp, other yummy seafood). This wine paired *perfectly*, with that slight citrusy grapefruit adding nicely to the seafood. We liked it so much that this became our 2nd white "house wine", displacing the Banrock Station Sémillon Chardonnay blend that had previously held the honor. The Banrock Station wine is a bit sweeter, which tends to pair better with spicier foods like Thai or Indian, but I really enjoy the "clean", crisp taste of the Chateau Montet Bordeaux Sauvignon.

Overall recommendation - the 2005 Chateau Montet Boreaux Sauvignon makes for a pleasant drinking, clean and crisp summer white. For $8, it has a high quality-to-price ratio, and I'd recommend giving it a shot!