The notorious second post. Remember all those great times we had back in post one? Ahh, those were the days!
So… the second post. I struggled to think of a topic to write on, and then I thought I might tell you a hilarious story about an ol’ mate called Albarino and his sneaky friend Savagnin. It’s a story filled with intrigue and mystery.
It all starts a decade or two ago. In the ever expanding and super competitive wine world, Australian producers, looking for the next big thing, stumbled upon a little ol’ grape variety from Spain, perhaps whilst visiting the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics.
So off they went, the Australian producers not the Barcelona Olympics, to the CSIRO to purchase some delicious Albarino cuttings to plant, nurture and grow. Oh, what fun they had; those cuttings matured and soon enough wine was produced. And what delicious wine it was!
And like most stories, things were going so well until France showed up.
France’s numero uno ampelographer (winesnob speak for “guy who looks at grape vines and tell you what they are”) was a bloke by the name of Jean-Michel Boursiquot and whilst on a trip to Australia, noticed these Albarino grapes and exclaimed between puffs of his Malborough cigarette, “Sacre Bleu! Deez are not Albarino crepes!”.
And he was right, Albarino is a type of fruit and not a thin pancake.
Nevertheless, these Olympic-loving winemakers got a little worried and to halt their fears, sent cuttings of these Albarino grapes to be tested.
And guess what?
They weren’t Albarino! They were something called Savagnin Blanc. No, not Sauvignon Blanc. Savagnin. And this got winemakers worried.
See, Albarino sounds more fashionable than Savagnin and more importantly, the winemakers also thought that us punters would be too stupid to distinguish between Sauvignon and Savagnin. True story.
(To be fair it probably had something more to do with the gazillions of dollars they’d spent advertising Albarino).
I’m not sure that this story had much of a point. The winemakers will probably sue the CSIRO. The CSIRO will probably sue Spain for giving them the wrong grapes. We’ll probably start seeing Savagnin written on winelists more often and you’ll be able to entertain your friends with the hilarious story of Albarino and Savagnin.
PS. My apologies to France. If it wasn’t for France, wine would be awful. But every story needs a bad guy, and in this one it was France. It’s merely artistic license. Please be assured that we think France is awesome.
A couple o’ educational notes about Albarino and Savagnin
Albarino: From Rias Baixas, in north west Spain and the Vinho Verde region in Portugal (where it’s known as Alvarinho). Usually unoaked, it makes a medium-bodied, crisp, appley-tasting, white wines with a delightful silky texture.
Savagnin: Grown primarily in the Jura region of France, it is an nonaromatic Traminer with a structure and texture similiar to Sauvy-B but with hits of pear and hints of nuts.
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