Time flies when you’re drinking wine – It’s week eight already!
I’m posting this a day early because I’m out of town the next four days.
Last week’s thread here, everyone welcome, usual disclaimers, blah blah blah.
This week’s sommelier is . . . . Zsofia. I’m sure she’ll pick zsomething zsuper. 
Is Zsofia on vacation? 
Shouldn’t that be “zsommelier”?
Zsomething like that.
I’d pick for her but it would just be another of the same old same old. It’s really time for a white or at least less dry wine. I know she’s around I’ve seen recent posts.
Just thought I’d give this one a little bump.
I’m camping this weekend, so I’ll need to buy whatever we’re tasting before Thursday (or after next Tuesday, but it’d be nice to share it with my fellow campers and get their opinions as well.)
If Zsofia is MIA, I’d be happy to swap spots with her.
I would too, if we’re looking for a white.
This would be a good week for a white, since I’m going to be at a tournament all weekend! 
Whoops! I’m so sorry, guys! I haven’t been paying attention. psycat90, would you mind swapping? I promise I’ll get my head in the game when my spot really comes along!
(If it puts it in context, yesterday I got a phone call from my doctor’s office reminding me of my annual physical Wednesday. My annual what?!?!)
No problem! I don’t mind at all.
Soooo, white then.
I’ll have to go with one of my favorites.
New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.
New Zealand exploded onto the wine scene in the 1980s and 1990s and is now producing some of the very best Sauvignon Blancs in the world, particularly from the Marlborough region. Since my husband is not a huge white wine drinker, reds usually dominate our wine rack, but there will always, always be at least 4 or 5 bottles of NZ Sauv Blanc on it. It’s become one of my must haves, especially this time of year.
This week’s pick is the 2006 Kim Crawford Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. It should be readily available, and according to winezap.com should average about $13.00 a bottle, which is what I usually pick it up for. And it’s in a screw cap! Hooray!
This wine is crisp and lively, and will go great with food. Especially good matches are goat cheese, light seafood dishes, goat cheese, and even the ‘wine killer’ asparagus. Did I mention goat cheese? 
One other tip - if you store it in the fridge overnight, let it come up in temp just a little bit before tasting. Tasting a white too cold can ‘numb’ it and mute much of the aroma and flavor. 45-48 degrees or so is good for a Sauv Blanc. (And ugh, yes, I have just become geeky enough to purchase a thermometer for my wine.)
Kim Crawford - production notes, awards, history etc. (The brand is now owned by Vincor.)
Should anyone have difficulty finding it, other suggestions would be St. Clair or Oyster Bay (or Cloudy Bay but I’m afraid it’s a bit over our budget.) Or any NZ Sauvignon Blanc you can find in our price range if you’ve never had one, as they are quite distinctly different from other Sauv Blancs grown around the globe.
Great. Just great. You picked a style of white I actually like. NZ SBs can get downright flinty.
OK, I’ll weigh in on this one, just a few days late.
This is so cool. I picked up a bottle of that at the World Market last week and still have it in my wine fridge. I’m not sure if it’s a 2006 or a 2005, I have to check.
New Zealand and particularly Marlborough New Zealand is our current favorite for Sav. Blanc. They’re all just so yummy.
My wine refrigerator stores wine at around 65 degrees. We’ve always thought this was too warm for white wines and preferred them a bit more chilled. I may have to re-think that.
While we’re at it, can someone give me a quick primer on titratable acidity and how it compares to pH? The measure on the Kim Crawford website for this wine is 9.6 g/l, but what does that mean?
Umm, I can try, but I’m certainly no chemist. We just did TA and other analysis in one of my wine labs. It’s another way to measure acid.
TA measures the sum of hydrogen ions free or attached. It does not measure the total acidity. It’s determined by titration with a base to an endpoint of pH 8.2 (phenolphthalein) and then shown as grams/liter of tartaric acid.
Winemakers use TA as a way to make sure a wine is in balance. It’s a measurement of the quantity of acids in the wine, while pH is a measurement of the *strength *of the acids.
Personally I found the pH measurements easier, but the TA was much more fun. Pretty pink wine!
See here for a little more. (pdf)
I found a bottle of this on my way home from work last night and put it in to chill. I am looking foreward to trying it this evening.
:o So, everyone knew this? I didn’t know this… :o
Oh well. My New Year’s resolution was to drink at least one bottle of wine a week, learn something about wine, and the hell with my liver. I like setting reasonable goals for myself. So everything right now is an education, and thank you all for posting.
At this point, anything over $20 would probably be wasted on me, so I’ve been looking at “value” wines. I’m sure that you are all familiar with these lists, but I had coincidentally just run across the latest wine here, along with some other tasty looking suggestions. I’ve already picked some of them up. I may need to quit my job to devote enough time to this.
Looking forward to your tasting notes.
*In my defense, I’ve really always been a beer drinker. And the bitter and hoppy beers that I like could take a stalk of limp asparagus out back and beat it to a pulp.
I was unaware of the asparagus factor, but since it is on the short list of foods I just do not like, it had never came up.
We drank ours last night with blackened grouper, mango chutney cous-cous and vegetable stir-fry. It really paired well with the grouper but other than that…darn it…I really do need to take notes because, while I can remember that I really liked it and it worked with the dinner, I don’t have anything more specific to share.
Sorry, my first venture into the SDMB wine club and I’ve got almost nothing to offer.
I may have to purchase another bottle and give it a real taste (with notes this time)
It’s considered one of the classic wine and food pairing challenges, but I find asparagus does go well with some wines, mainly crisp whites like Sauvignon Blanc and Gruner Veltliner.
It has to do with a chemical found in the asparagus. - Here’s a pretty good article with more info.