Unlike the flying Dutchman, the legendary ghost ship doomed never to cast anchor, the flying Frenchman reached the Cape of Good Hope just fine. The Frenchman in question, Jean-Luc Soty of Pascal Jolivet, the famous French producer joined the Klein Constantia team in 2013 for harvest. They decided to experiment with one of the highest blocks of Sauvignon blanc in the Pascal Jolivet “way” and the result was the Metis Sauvignon blanc. ‘Metis’ denoting someone from mixed parentage, or in this case, ‘fly-by’ parentage (if we may be so bold as to suggest a term).
French Sauvignon
Flying winemakers are not new, in fact it is tradition for Old and New World winemakers to share information and competencies from harvest to harvest. In the case of Pascal Jolivet and Klein Constantia it is their shared interest in Sauvignon blanc that sparked our interest. Sauvignon blanc being an intriguing little grape, with that very French way of having a confusing array of names all meaning the same thing. Like the OTHER white grape, Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc’s various names are tied to the French communes in which it finds its truest expression. These being Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, set on opposite sides of the Loire River. The interesting thing about Jolivet is that not only do they dabble in South African Sauvignon blanc, they also make both Sancerre Sauvignon blanc and Pouilly-Fumé. Which if you know us BUT AT ALL, sets the stage for an intriguing tasting opportunity.
An International Tasting
Now in very broad terms this is what you can expect: Loire Valley wines will be lower in alcohol, crisp, mineral driven, often with an endearing herbaceous note. While our South African Sauvignons are to be higher in alcohol, with hints of tropical fruit and flint. But who are we to say? You might have a wholly different experience given the chance. In anticipation of International Sauvignon blanc day on the 6th of May and in the interest of always giving you the opportunity to experiment, why not sample the Sauvignons from Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé and Constantia all in one. You might actually end up knowing the difference.
