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Pesto-Resistant Wine
The summer is here. Basil season has arrived unofficially. I’m currently overwhelmed by everything. One of my colossal basil plants is shown to the left. I acknowledge that having a lot of basil isn’t a problem. Who doesn’t appreciate basil? On the other hand, Basil can be difficult to combine with wine. This is a strong herb, and you don’t want your wine to clash with it, nor do you want it to fade away on the tongue.
Sauvignon Blanc is my go-to wine when a recipe calls for strong green, herbal characteristics. However, New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs are frequently lemony, while US Sauvignon Blancs are often melony and mellow, making basil a difficult match. So I cracked open a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc, which went perfectly with my linguine with handmade pesto and heirloom cherry tomatoes.
The 2011 Via Carmen Sauvignon Blanc Gran Reserva is made from grapes cultivated in the Leyda Valley and retails for $13-$15. It boasts vivid scents of grass, gooseberry, and that strange boxwood scent that I often detect in Sauvignon Blancs from the southern hemisphere. This wine was more green and leafy than zesty, with a balanced backbone of acidity that kept your mouth thirsty for more. The herbaceous midpalate reminded me of what Cabernet Franc would taste if wine were white rather than red. This stood up to the basil by being cool and refreshing. If you’re serving the wine with anything less stubbornly green, its aggressiveness may be an issue, but if you’re serving basil, this is a great wine to pair with it—and it’s a great QPR.