The World's Most Expensive Sauvignon Blancs - Wine-Searcher

Everyone's favorite summer wine offers better value than most of the other "noble" grapes.

Can you have summer without Sauvignon Blanc?

That might sound like the opening line of an advertising pitch from the International Sauvignon Blanc Council, but it is a fair question.

Long, hot days and balmy evenings bring out the Sauvignon lover in us, if sales figures and search results are anything to go by. Whether it's the steely classics of Sancerre, the thiol-tinged fruit-bombs from Marlborough, or the rich, luscious examples from California, summer is Sauvignon season.

The flavors of Sauvignon lend themselves to a summer lifestyle, partnering lighter meals like seafood and salads, while also providing excellent refreshment for a hot day or warm evening. But it also has another magnetic attraction – value. It's the best-value variety of the so-called "noble" grapes.

Although there is no definitive list of noble grape varieties, there is general agreement that there are six core varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Chardonnay, Riesling and our friend Sauvignon. Even if you add in Cabernet France, Pinot Blanc and Muscat, Sauvignon still comes out at or near the top of the best-value race.

Even when you come across expensive Sauvignon, the price isn't high because it is Sauvignon, as such; it's because of what the wine is. Screaming Eagle is a huge outlier on the list below, mostly because the tiny production volume and the winery's reputation combine to artificially inflate the price – Screaming Eagle is never about value, after all. 

Even the second wine on the list is something of an anomaly. Again, it isn't the grape variety that sets the price, but the fact that it is from a sought-after producer and made from ungrafted pre-phylloxera vines.

Another interesting point about the list below is the paucity of diversity. Only two countries are represented, and neither of them is New Zealand, a country that made its name with the variety, and continues to do so today. However, either from modesty or a lack of faith in the ability of the grape to command top prices, New Zealand doesn't feature in the top 25 most expensive Sauvignons, let alone the top 10. In fact, Sauvignon Blanc can't even crack the list of New Zealand's 25 most expensive wines.

So, let's see which wines we are talking about.

The World's Most Expensive Sauvignon Blancs on Wine-Searcher:

	Wine Name	Score	Ave Price
	Screaming Eagle Sauvignon Blanc, Oakville	93	$6933
	Dagueneau Asteroide, Pouilly-Fumé	97	$1361
	Edmond Vatan Clos la Neore, Sancerre	93	$323
	Pavillon Blanc du Château Margaux, Bordeaux	93	$288
	Dana Estates Hershey Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc, Howell Mountain	93	$252
	Dagueneau Silex, Pouilly-Fumé	93	$154
	Dagueneau Le Mont Damne, Sancerre	94	$153
	Lail Vineyards Georgia Sauvignon Blanc, Napa	93	$150
	Domaine Vacheron L'Enclos des Remparts, Sancerre	94	$143
	Francois Cotat Cuvée Paul, Sancerre	92	$129

Unsurprisingly, this is pretty much a win for France, with the Loire accounting for six of the top 10, but what is intriguing is the prices. Once you get past the top two wines, there isn't really anything there to scare the horses. That said, the price fluctuations in the past year have been interesting – in that there has been little in the way of any actual fluctuation. The Asteroide saw its average price jump by around 23 percent, the Vatan Clos le Neore's price has shot up by 26.5 percent in 12 months, and the Pavillon Blanc went up by 12 percent, but the others have been remarkably stable.

It's also interesting to note the scores for these wines. The Asteroide is right up there with the best of the best, but the others, admirable as their scores might be, don't seem to attract the same high numbers that other grape varieties do. And maybe that's not a bad thing – after all, higher scores usually translate into higher prices, so let's thank the critics for keeping Sauvignon affordable for its millions of fans.

And here's to a nice long summer.

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The World's Most Expensive Sauvignon Blancs - Wine-Searcher
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