Sauv blanc

My girlfriend has recently gotten into sauvignon blanc after being primarily a pinot grigio drinker. Any recommendations on good ones under 10 or 15 bucks?

I don't always drink wine but when I do, I prefer Napa cabs....so I can't really help her. She likes Kim Crawford a lot.... anything similar to that, maybe at a slightly lower price point? Or better?

 

Sauvignon Blanc from different appellations takes on distinctive flavor differences. Kim Crawford, for example, is New Zealand and specifically Marlborough. Flavors from that region are dominated by grapefruit, fresh green bean and very strong peepee du chat for those that recognize that one

From California you will typically get more stone fruit/citrus flavors such as lemon, lime, nectarine, peach and also melon with the occasional touch of green herb or grass tossed in

From the Loire Valley in France (home to Sancerre) the flavors go more herbal in front followed by bracing acidity and citrus.

You get the idea...

Kim Crawford is marketed like crazy, but prices on most quality SB are now creeping over the $20 mark.
Go to reccos for me would be Groth (Napa), Honig (Napa), CADE (Napa), Vacheron (Loire), Dagueneau (Loire, but big $$), the uber popular Cloudy Bay (Marlborough) and Neudorf (Marlborough)

 

Groth, Star Lane locally for us and from NZ we're Wairarapa region fans, I guess because we spent time there. Flinty, grassy, less armpit and cat piss.

 

For the $15 range, Groth and Honig are good choices, but if you're looking for $10, I'd suggest hitting Trader Joe's or BevMo and try until you find something she likes.

 

Ernie's is the best advice. Tastes, "value," availability ... at that price point hit TJs, BevMo, Costco, Total Wine, your local bodega, whomever, and just buy and sample. The wines are inexpensive so if you get a dog -- or a "good" one you simply don't like -- you're not out anything. Wine preferences are so infinitely variable -- we had a Paul Hobbs Cabernet the other night that several of us thought absolutely a waste of bottle and fruit, for instance. (And don't even get me going on the sacred cow around here, Sea Smoke.) I also think the relative/big picture price point has shifted to at least $25 for that tier threshold.

 

If she likes Kim Crawford, she'll love Cloudy Bay, albeit a little more expensive. Villa Maria is another NZ sauvignon Blanc that is a few dollars more than Kim Crawford, but less expensive than Cloudy Bay. Chateau St Michelle Horse Heaven sauvignon blanc(Washington State) in the $15-20 range is nice, but will taste a lot different than the "grassy" NZ blancs.

 

Stay with a NZ if that's what she likes. If you have a Sam's Club you can probably get Zeal- the green bottle. It's a lot less than Kim and has that grapefruitty bite.

 

Thanks for all the recommendations!

 

Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa. Awesome place. And not just wine, the main floor is booze booze booze.

 

Matanzas Creek, Groth, and Cakebread are all great CA choices. The Ferrari Carano (they call Fume blanc but it is a sauv blanc) is widely available at about $12/ bottle, sometimes around $10 by bulk in CA. Cloudy bay is pretty much the global standard for the varietal and it is great value. Above your range but well worth one bottle.

 

Could make the argument that in a categorical sense Sancerre or Pouilly-Fume would produce a global standard.