Saturday night – Kathy’s Birthday – Part 1

It was my wife’s birthday on Saturday, so a group of us decided to go out for the evening to Seneca Casino. The Western Door is a steak and seafood restaurant at the casino which has good food and a great wine list.

http://www.senecaniagaracasino.com/dining-western-door.cfm

For the first course, we started with appetizers; crab cakes, Caesar salad, clams casino, smoked salmon and a chilled seafood platter. We ordered a couple of bottles of 2005 Sauvion from Sancerre. After the first bottle was poured out, we noticed that Kathy and Mick both had white crystals in their glasses. I wasn’t overly concerned about this as we’d seen the same thing a number of times with red wine; Rosenblum Zinfandel commonly has these crystals. We usually jokingly refer to them as ‘flavour crystals’.

"Flavour Crystals!"

I was curious as to why these crystal are in some wines and not others so I did a bit of web research and came across this article from winesloverspage.com.

Crystals in wine: What are they?

The crystals at the bottom of a bottle of wine are usually a sign that the wine is of good quality. They are more common on red wine where they are stained by the wine and are regarded as part of the sediment. In white wine they remain clear, and some people fear they may be glass.

Not so. They are tartrate crystals formed as part of the aging process. Some wines are more susceptible than others due to the climate where they are made and the grape varieties used. German wines are often affected.

Because many consumers are upset by seeing these crystals in white wine and take them back to the retailer, most mass wine producers process the wine to precipitate and filter out the crystals. This process does, of course, result in a less complex and less interesting wine.
Thus I expect the wine you are referring to is a good quality wine, maybe from a boutique winery, that is developing in the bottle.

As long as the wine is stored properly then it should give you delight when you get around to drink it. However I suggest you do not keep the wine for too long.

Please reassure your friend that the crystals are totally harmless. Don't shake the bottle and pour the wine gently and they will all stay in the bottle.

Thanks to Peter May, host of The Pinotage Club on the Web, for providing this question and answer.

I guess as they are “a sign that a wine is of good quality”, the ‘flavour crystals’ joke wasn’t far of the mark.

The Sauvion is a Sauvignon Blanc from the Sancerre area of France. The nose on the wine was nice with lime, rosewater and wet stones. Tasting the wine, it had a faint peach flavour to start with, crisp acidity and a big lime finish. The wine on its own was nice but this wine really shined with the food; it was very good with any of the seafood appetizers and exceptional with the Caesar salad.

I tried finding an LCBO listing and had no luck so here is the Wine Spectator’s comments on the wine –

Sauvion & Fils, Sancerre 2005

Has a hint of pear up front, followed by more typical flint and straw notes on the light-bodied finish. Drink now. 1,000 cases imported. –JM
Rating – 87, Price - $22 US.

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick – 89, Mark – 90, Kathy – 90, Amy – 89, Overall – 89.5

Click here for Part 2