It’s rare to find a food and wine pairing this good. The crab cake recipe is simple, yet elegant. This pairing will undoubtedly earn you the respect of the most seasoned sommelier. 

This “Best-Ever Crab Cake” recipe was created by MeganVt01 and published at Food 52, and Martha Stewart has zero to do with it. It presents intricate flavors as you bite through the crisp exterior to get to the soft, delicate, sweet center. A dash of hot sauce adds dimension and depth. Fresh herbs explode on the palate. A rich, creamy aioli adds sweetness. With the right wine, this food and wine pairing is an utter delight.

That wine is the Halleck Vineyard 2021 “Not Your Mother’s” Dry White Zinfandel. This complex wine is light-bodied and offers a variety of nuances, including dried herbs, rich berry fruit, and delicate floral notes, in addition to a minerality on the mid-palate. It deviates from more expected white wine stone crab pairings like Chardonnay, red wines or Prosecco.

The Zin is well-balanced, structured, and elegant. It is a refreshing wine with bright acidity. Produced in the Russian River Valley, Sonoma County, this Dry White Zin is bright, fresh, and smooth. It is 100% Dry White Zinfandel. What that means is that nothing is added. This Zin has notes of stone fruit, white nectarine, white peach, a touch of maraschino cherries, and a touch of apricot. There are some bright white flowers on the nose. It is produced using the Provence Method, which gives it somewhat of a creamy texture which is reflected in the aioli. 

The dried herb nuances complement the fresh herbs in the crab cakes. The expressive nose is full of a mesmerizing blend of floral notes and delicate fruit. These aromas match and complement the sweetness and delicate nature of the crab meat. 

This wine is an acid-driven version of the classical Dry White Zinfandel. It features a bright, crisp acidity that cuts through the rich, creamy aioli sauce, which Jennifer also highlighted. “Aioli was an obvious choice in this pairing. The acidity cleanses the palate for the next bite,” says Jennifer LaRue, who, together with her husband Brad, served the pairing at a recent wine dinner event. The Zin leaves a refreshing finish that lingers with floral notes. 

Jennifer LaRue, an Inner Circle Wine Club member, hosted the dinner for friends in her Colorado Springs home. Winemaker Jennifer Halleck poured the chosen wine. 

“From my experience with food pairings, I know that Dry White Zinfandel is great to pair with crab meat. The key for me was to create a balance between the delicate crab meat and the mineral leanness of the wine. The two flavors combine beautifully, and neither one overpowers the other,” said Jennifer LaRue.

Any sommelier worth their salt will tell you it’s better to pair the wine with the sauce, not the meat. LaRue opted to add aioli instead of tartar sauce, as called for by the original recipe. It’s this minor change that elevated the dish and married the flavors and aromas between the wine and the crab cakes so perfectly. 

You may be wondering: is the white Zinfandel dry or sweet? The 2021 “Not Your Mother’s” Dry White Zinfandel is a dry wine with a lower alcohol content compared to the slightly higher Sutter Home White Zinfandel alcohol content, which is a sweeter White Zinfandel. 

Halleck Vineyard Inner Circle Wine Club often cohosts these dinners in members’ homes. The idea is to introduce members’ friends and fellow wine lovers from outside the Sonoma Valley area to Halleck Vineyard wines and wine pairings, such as Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, a wine that pairs perfectly with Duck Confit.

Where did Sauvignon Blanc come from, and what makes it so distinct? Does Sauvignon Blancs taste different depending on where they are made? And what are the best Sauvignon Blanc food pairings?
We’re here to answer these questions and more in this definitive guide to well-loved Sauvignon Blanc wine. 

What is Sauvignon Blanc wine, and where did it come from? 

Sauvignon Blanc wine is a very distinct beverage. It’s known for its high levels of acidity, low levels of sugar, and notes of tropical fruit and herbaceous notes. 

The name Sauvignon Blanc comes from the French words “savauge” (wild) and “blanc” (white). This wine is indeed quite wild, both in taste and origin. The green-skinned grapes from which it’s made grew like weeds throughout France where it was discovered in the 18th century. 

And, in case you were wondering, Cabernet Sauvignon is indeed related to Sauvignon Blanc. In fact, Cab Sauv is a cross of Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc grapes. 

Sauvignon Blanc grapes are round in shape and hang in small, dense clusters. They can grow in a range of climates, but fare particularly well in dry, sunny regions. These grapes are also affected greatly by the terroir (soil content, weather, etc) of their region.

Sauvignon Blanc wine grapes first originated in the Bordeaux region of France, but have since become popular in New Zealand, California, and Chile. In fact, it was New Zealand that really put Sauvignon Blanc wine on the map in the 1980s. 

Before the 1980s, Sauvignon Blanc was primarily popular in France – but under a completely different name. The grapes traveled from Bordeaux to the Loire Valley, where they were marketed under the name “Sancerre” (san-SER) after the region they were made in. All wines in France are described by their place of origin, not the grapes from which they are made.

Sancerre made quite the buzz in Parisian nightlife, where it was regarded as a delightfully drinkable white wine both with and without food. It was unique because of its green and seasoned flavors and became a very hip varietal in bars and bistros. 

Sauvignon Blanc wine didn’t really hit the international market until it debuted in Marlborough, New Zealand. New Zealand, like California and much of the wine world, use the actual grape name, Sauvignon Blanc, and the wines they sold were crisp, refreshing, and incredibly affordable. The world took notice. 

Soon after, winemakers in Sonoma and Napa, California, Casablanca, Chila, and even Stellenbosch, South Africa were scrambling to make their own Sauvignon Blanc wines. The popularity took off, and the variety of tastes and types of Sauvignon Blanc increased tenfold. 

How is Sauvignon Blanc wine made? 

Sauvignon Blanc is relatively simple to make. In order to embrace the bright, fruity flavors of the wine, Sauvignon Blanc is seldomly aged in oak barrels, but instead in stainless steel tanks. The wine is fermented at low temperatures (between 42° to 50° F) to retain as much of the grape’s fruitiness as possible. 

After a few rackings, the wine is fined, filtered, and then bottled within just a few months after fermentation. Sauvignon Blanc is a wine best enjoyed young to appreciate its true acidity, so it’s not uncommon for a Sauvignon Blanc wine that was fermented just five months ago to show up at your dinner table. That said, a finely made Sauvignon Blanc can be aged and delicious for as long as a decade.

When Sauvignon Blanc is fermented, the winemakers usually wait for all the sugars to convert to alcohol. This gives the wine a moderate-to-high alcohol content (usually between 12.5–14% alcohol by volume) and a dry finish. 

Is Sauvignon Blanc wine dry or sweet? 

Since Sauvignon Blanc is usually made in a dry style, which means there is little residual sugar once the grape juice has been converted to alcohol by yeast. Still, one needs to ask — is Sauvignon Blanc sweet? 

Some winemakers, however, (particularly those in the Marlborough region of New Zealand) choose to make sparkling wine out of their Sauvignon Blanc grapes and leave in a hint of sugar for added richness. 

A few grams per liter of residual sugar is still considered a dry wine, so the majority of Sauvignon Blanc wine ranges from completely dry to off-dry. The tropical fruity qualities of some Sauvignon Blanc wines might make them seem a little sweeter than they really are. But the hint of sweetness is balanced out by the bright acidity in this bold varietal. 

Just as Gewurztraminer wine is often made sweet with residual suger, we enjoy our Halleck Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc on the dry side. Sauvignon Blanc wine can also be made “sweet.” 

When Sauvignon Blanc wine is fermented in oak, it takes on vanilla and custard notes as well as riper tropical fruit qualities. This can dull the acidity a bit, adding to the experience of sweetness in the wine, even though the sugar-levels may be on the dry side.

Sauvignon Blanc grapes can even be used to make dessert wines, such as the Sauternes and Barsac wines from Bordeaux. These wines are made from grapes affected by noble rot, or botrytis, which makes them delightfully sweet indeed. 

In general, if you are picking up a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc wine at the store, you can expect it to be on the crisp, dry side of things. 

How many calories does Sauvignon Blanc have? 

Sauvignon Blanc wine has a bad name when it comes to calories. Sure, Sauvignon Blanc calories are higher than some other white wines, but that’s because it has a higher alcohol content. In fact, when compared to a high-alcohol red wine, Sauvignon Blanc calories can appear quite low.

On average, you’re looking at about 120 Sauvignon Blanc calories per a 5-ounce glass, and 620 Sauvignon Blanc calories per bottle. 

Then there are Sauvignon Blanc carbs to consider. Sauvignon Blanc carbs aren’t something to worry about, especially if your Sauvignon Blanc wine is on the dry side (as they usually are). When the wine is dry, Sauvignon Blanc carbs usually range between zero to four grams. 

To have a healthy, balanced diet, you should eat between 225 to 325 grams of carbohydrates per day. That means Sauvignon Blanc carbs barely make a dent in your daily allowance, and you don’t need to feel guilty about having a few refreshing glasses of our wonderful Halleck Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc wine. 

How should I serve Sauvignon Blanc wine? 

Like all white wines, Sauvignon Blanc is best served chilled. We recommend placing your bottle in the fridge for a few hours. Then, remove it a half hour before serving. It’s best enjoyed at about 55-58 degrees. If the wine is too cold, you will miss out on some of the flavors and acidity. 

Sauvignon Blanc wine is both aromatic and acidic. You want to channel those qualities properly with the right wine glass. Look for a white wine glass with a narrow aperture. That holds the aromas in the glass and keeps the wine from hitting the sides of your tongue, where your taste buds pick up on acidity. 

If you don’t finish your bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, it can keep in the fridge for 2-4 days. After that, the wine will start to lose its flavors and oxidize. 

How does Sauvignon Blanc taste? 

As mentioned, Sauvignon Blanc is known for its high acidity and the many different types of fruit flavors. Grapefruit, passionfruit, gooseberry, and lime, and notes of fresh herbs, green peppers, grass, and even jalapeño are common descriptors.  

The herbal and vegetal aromas come from organic flavor compounds known as “pyrazines.” Pyrazines are found in some red grape varieties as well, such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and are responsible for “green notes” in the wine. Too much is not desirable and can be considered a flaw in the wine.

As mentioned before, Sauvignon Blanc wine can taste quite different depending on the winemaking region. If grown in a cooler region, the earthy green characteristics from the pyrazines will be more prominent. In a warmer region, you will instead experience riper fruit and tropical flavors. 

Sauvignon Blanc wines from Loire Valley, France take on the characteristics of the soil there, which lends a smoky, flinty, minerally taste to the wine. Wines from Bordeaux will be more grassy and grapefruity. 

In New Zealand, the sandy soils provide good drainage and lower fertility. This causes the grapes to grow in lower, more concentrated yields and produces fuller-bodied, fruit-forward wine with flavors of grapefruit, jalapeño, herbs, and bold tropical fruit.

 The flavor of the wine can also be affected by the time of harvest. If harvested early, Sauvignon Blanc wines will be even more acidic with punchy lime flavor. If harvested later, the fruit flavors will be primarily of white peach or nectarine. 

The best Sauvignon Blanc food pairings 

Sauvignon Blanc is incredibly food-friendly. Because Sauvignon Blanc varies so from place to place, if you are curious about specific food pairings, please join one of our Halleck Vineyard virtual wine tastings. We can recommend the best Sauvignon Blanc food pairings based on tasting notes and regions.

Minerally Sauvignon Blanc wine

Regions: Sancerre, Tasmania

If your Sauvignon Blanc tastes of strong mineral and earthy undertones, then it’s best to pair your wine with simple, lightly seasoned ingredients. We recommend fresh crab, white fish like cod, sea bass, or halibut, and raw or lightly cooked shellfish. 

A minerally Sauvignon Blanc wine will also go well with dill, tomato, and goat cheese (on its own or in salads). It’s also the best Sauvignon Blanc to match with sushi and sashimi. 

Citrusy Sauvignon Blanc wine

Regions: Bordeaux (unoaked), Australia, Chile 

If your Sauvignon Blanc tastes more heavily of citrus, you can balance it with an oily fish like mackerel or sardine. It will also pair perfectly with fish-and-chips, garlic prawns, and grilled chicken or lamb. 

A citrus-heavy Sauv Blanc is also the best Sauvignon Blanc wine for pairing with artichoke, avocado, olives, and sharp cheeses like feta. Because of this, it tends to play well with Greek and Mexican cuisine. 

Herbaceous Sauvignon Blanc wine 

Regions: New Zealand, South Africa, cooler regions

If your Sauvignon Blanc tastes grassy and herbaceous, then you should pair it with other green herbal flavors. Think mint, basil, cilantro, rosemary, or parsley. 

An herbaceous Sauv Blanc is the best Sauvignon Blanc for spicy south-east Asian dishes with lime and chili. It’s also the best choice for seafood salads with pea-shoots, green peppers, or asparagus. 

Oaked Sauvignon Blanc Wine 

If your Sauvignon Blanc has been oaked, you can use it as you might a Chardonnay. It will pair particularly well with white meats like chicken or veal – especially if accompanied by asparagus, peas, or a creamy sauce. 

Creamy pasta dishes with spring vegetables work well too, or a simple grilled or smoked salmon. 

Choosing the best Sauvignon Blanc for you 

Sauvignon Blanc wine has something for everyone. It’s refreshing and light, with a variety of different flavor profiles. Whether you are looking for a tropical passion fruit-forward wine, or a very dry minerally white, there is a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc wine that fits the bill. 

If you want a bold, fruity wine that shouts of grapefruit, grab a bottle from New Zealand. If you’re looking for good minerality and a crisp French style, try a Sauvignon Blanc wine from California or Sancerre. 

Whatever your taste, Sauvignon Blanc makes a wonderful companion in any season.

Oh, how the tables have turned!

Now, it seems like every celebrity and pop culture icon is releasing a trendy rosé, and every liquor store, wine shop, and even grocery store features a shelf full of pink wine.

What’s the difference between White Zinfandel and Rosé anyway? 

People who are already in the know on dry rosé wine can sometimes be heard saying that they love rosé, but not White Zinfandel rosé. 

For the rest of us, the dichotomy between White Zinfandel vs rosé can be confusing. 

After all, White Zinfandel is a rosé.

Rosé is the overarching term for all pink wine. It covers all styles of rosé, from still to bubbly and from sweet to dry. There are even niche styles of wines fortified with spirits that are considered to be rosés, such as rosé ports and rosé vermouths. 

These wines can be anywhere from lusciously sweet to bone dry — depending on the winemaker’s desired style — and can be made from any grape. 

Perhaps the most common misconception (after the myth that all rosés are sweet) is in the production process of rosé wine. 

The most common and standard method of rosé wine production isn’t actually mixing red wine and white wine together. 

The red pigment in this pink wine primarily comes from the skin of the pressed red grapes. 

Right at the initial press, wine grape juice runs clear, which means it’s actually possible to make white wine from red grapes. So, while red wines are allowed to sit and soak in the color (and flavor) from the skins, rosé wines are removed from skin contact after a short period of time, resulting in a lighter color. 

The longer the skins of the crushed grapes are allowed to stay in the juice, the darker the resulting wine is. 

It actually wasn’t that long ago that White Zinfandel was the most popular sub-category of rosé wine. It was created when Bob Trinchero of (at the time) Sutter Home was trying to make a Red Zinfandel, normally a bold, spicy red wine made in a dry style. 

He had what’s technically called a Stuck Fermentation when the yeast in the fermenting tank simply stops working. 

This resulted in a sweet, fruity wine. And instead of throwing out the juice or selling it off in bulk, he decided to bottle it, sell it, and call it “White Zinfandel.” 

White Zinfandel became one of the most popular wines in the United States, and a runaway commercial success for Sutter Home. In a time when dry Provence-style rosé wine hadn’t become popular in the United States yet, White Zinfandel became synonymous with rosé wine to Americans. 

    1. Endless variety: There’s a whole world of dry rosé wine

The term “White Zinfandel” or White Zin might suggest to some a specific style of wine, the one created by Sutter Home in 1948 by Bob Trinchero.

But that isn’t so.

It’s not 1948 anymore, and an ocean of pink juice ranging from sugary sweet to surprisingly-dry now greets shoppers at most stores that sell wine. 

Dry rosé wine has finally claimed its rightful place in the wine world, as an easy, go-to sipping wine that pairs with almost any food and any social occasion. 

And while White Zinfandel rosé and, by extension, all rosé wine has a reputation for being a sugary blasé wine, there is an entire world of dry rosé wine out there waiting to be explored.

In fact, there is a rosé version of just about every version of red wine you can think of, and some are exciting blends of various grapes. They come in all kinds of different flavor profiles, sweetness levels (although most of them are quite dry), carbonation levels, and regions of origin. 

A good rule of thumb is that the rosé versions of wines mimic its fully pigmented red versions. 

For example, Pinot Noirs have a softer, gentler profile with brambly berry flavors and floral notes as a red wine. Pinot Noir grapes produce a beautifully delicate, lacy dry rosé wine with a light, airy flavor profile. Cabernet Sauvignons and Malbecs, however, make red wines that have great depth of flavor, firm structure, and earthy dark notes. The dry rosé wines made from these kinds of grapes have a more assertive flavor profile, with firmer structure than a rosé of Pinot Noir. 

Rosés also express terroir, or the character of the place where the grapes were grown and the wines were made. 

French rosés are perfectly polished with beautiful fresh fruit notes; some South American rosés can even have a hint of earth and smoke, making them perfect for that hot summer backyard barbecue (perhaps inspired by an Argentinean Asado?) when it’s just too hot for a red wine. Spanish rosés are just barely spicy and savory, and American West Coast rosés are lush and luxurious on the palate. 

There’s really a rosé to match your every mood and occasion. 

2. Versatility: It’s the drink of the hostess with the mostest

The amazing variety of dry rosé wines available in the market today means there’s not only a rosé out there for every wine drinker, but also a rosé out there for every possible scenario and food pairing (or lack thereof!). 

Need something to serve while your guests are waiting for the meal to be served? 

Dry rosé is a perfect before-dinner drink, with a clean, refreshing aftertaste. Its status as a happy compromise between red and white wine means that it’s the perfect transition between the appetizer and the main course. 

We also find that our favorite rosé is with fish or a healthy chicken bowl, but still structured enough to pair well with red meat. 

For the brunch fans among us: when you decide to switch up the mimosa and bloody mary routine, try adding dry rosé into the mix! 

Breakfast food and rosé is one of the most delightful pairings in the world. Rosé has the substance to stand up to the heartier parts of your meal, like bacon, sausage, and lox, but has the crisp acidity to play well with eggs, cheese, and toasted bread. 

Dry rosé wine’s crowd-pleasing flavor profile and beautiful color means it’s becoming more and more popular as a celebration wine — like for weddings or as a festive holiday meal pairing. 

Need a unique gift idea? 

A specialty dry rosé is one of the best value for quality wine categories in the market today, and nothing says “cheers” like a rosé Champagne!

With so many styles and grapes available, dry rosé is slowly but surely becoming a year-round drink. 

That wall of rosé that used to disappear in October as suddenly as it accosted shoppers in April? It’s rightfully become a permanent section in your wine shop and grocery store, with its very own engraved “rosé” section sign to boot. 

There are darker, heartier rosé wines for the colder months, and the ethereal, airily-delicate rosé wines that seem to disappear on your tongue for the summer months, actually work for all 12 months of the year. 

The versatile flavor profile even lends itself well to frozen slushies/frosés and wine cocktails, or frozen slushies of wine cocktails! Don’t be afraid to play around with rosé wine, cordials, syrups, bitters, tonic waters, and other fun ingredients. 

    3. Outstanding value: You get more bang for your buck

For an aspiring wine aficionado trying to get acquainted with the world of fine wine, cost can get extremely prohibitive, very quickly. 

One way to get around this is to try the “entry-level” or the most cost-effective wines from the best wine producers in the world. This is a great way to get familiar with the production style of each producer, without paying top dollar for their flagship, jewel-in-the-crown wine. 

For many vineyards, that comes in the form of their rosé.

It doesn’t require any time aging at the winery, as it’s bottled just after fermentation and released immediately. It doesn’t require any barrels, or have any other costs associated with lengthier, slower winemaking. Generally, it’s produced from fruits that come from younger vines in a winery estate’s holdings; younger vines produce fruits that are a little less concentrated in flavor, producing a lighter style of wine. 

This is not to say that rosé wine is made cutting any corners! 

Quite the opposite. 

Winemakers know that rosé and white wine is one of the first introductions to their wine lineup for most people. And we want to make a great first impression, welcoming you into our community of wine lovers! 

From the vineyard to the bottle, winemakers take just as much care with their rosé wines as they do with their red wines which can be twice, three times, or even more of the cost of the rosé wines from the same line. 

All of this just means that one of the best value categories in all of wine is the dry rosés from some of the best vineyards — such as those in the famous Sonoma County. With all the skill and care that goes into a top-dollar wine, produced in the same place, cared for by the same hands, rosé wines are much less cost prohibitive, and accessible on a daily basis for more people. 

White Zinfandel, remixed

This brings us back around to the topic of White Zinfandel. 

Rosé wines made from Zinfandel grapes can in fact be dry, just like rosé wines made from any other red grape. A bottle of pink wine that reads “White Zinfandel” might recall mass-produced $9.99 1.5 liter special sales at your local grocery store, but there are passionate producers like the team at Halleck Vineyard making absolutely gorgeous, elevated dry rosé wines from this grape. 

And sure, we could call our wine the “rosé of Zinfandel” or something fancy like that. 

But winemakers can be a funny, ragtag bunch, and the reference to the sweet style innovated by Bob Trichero is intentional and tongue-in-cheek.

We won’t lie, we had fun naming our Not Your Mother’s Dry White Zinfandel, too.

Like the name suggests, this wine isn’t the stuff your mother might have drunk out of measuring cups back in the day. It’s elevated, complex, and refreshing on the palate, making it perfect for a poolside glass of wine, or with hors d’oeuvres at your dinner party. It can even stand up to a hearty dinner as a great Thanksgiving wine.

It’s the perfect wine to surprise your guests (and yourself!) with something unexpected. It recalls the spicy, complexity, and the perfect red berry and plum flavors of Red Zinfandel, but in a more delicate version of itself.

Not to mention, it’s the wine of trendsetters. Dry rosés have been around for a little while, and rosés as a category even longer than that. But dry White Zinfandel is a relatively new movement in wine that plays on its past and its misconception in the world. 

You could be one of the first to set this trend and champion a truly unique, delicious category of wine!