Although Sauvignon Blanc is a consistent variety across continents and price ranges, there are several styles of Sauvignon Blanc. Let’s compare Chile vs. the Loire. 

Chilean Sauvignon Blanc Compared to the World

I’ve looked at Austrian and Californian Sauvignon Blanc and compared Chilean vs. New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc in the past. What I’ve found is that much of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc is similar to New Zealand in style: light, fresh, fruity, unoaked but unafraid to show some green notes. Most Sauvignon Blanc from coastal Chilean regions like Casablanca and Leyda are like this. It’s a similar genre–give or take some ripeness–to lots of Sauvignon Blanc around the world that are popular and bargain priced. 

In contrast, some have more lees and oak time like in Bordeaux (with some Semillon), California and Austria. Again, this can vary depending on the producer and climate. Chile’s Calyptra’s Gran Reserva Sauvignon Blanc from Cachapoal is closer to these styles.  

Then there’s Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire Valley, which is the most expensive and sought after by wine geeks for its minerality. Chile’s Laberinto Sauvignon Blanc from Maule is closest to this style, and I’ve compared it to some Loire Valley wines in the past like this in this Loire Valley tasting I did. 

However, I wanted to compare something more standard from Chile, like a commercial Sauvignon Blanc from Casablanca to one from the Loire, to better distinguish the styles.  

Tasting Notes

2022 Francois Chidaine Touraine Sauvignon Blanc 

Francois Chidaine is one the top producers in the Loire, but he’s more well-known for his Chenin Blanc wines. Biodynamic. Clay and limestone soil. Stainless steel fermented and aged. Native yeasts. 

The nose is rather fruit and lees driven with a touch of savory herbs in the background. The palate is medium bodied with medium-low acid and also fruit driven with a slightly creamy feel. Decent length. A little fizz at first that fades away quickly. This is a strange Sauvignon Blanc. It lacks the acid and minerality of most Loire SB and lacks acid in general compared to most SB other than oaked and tropical tasting SB from California I’ve had but this is not oaked and although quite ripe, it’s not tropical; it’s more ripe apple flavored. It also doesn’t have the green notes of NZ or Chilean SB. It’s closer to Austrian SB I’ve had but still lacks acid in comparison. Closer to New World unoaked Chardonnay for me. 

It’s a decent wine, just not what I was expecting from a Loire Valley Sauvignon Blanc. Of course, the terroir is different without the silex (flint) minerality that distinguishes Pouilly Fume and Sancerre, but it’s more than that. 

2nd day. This was better the second day with a different pairing. A little more open, but mainly with a pairing that was more savory and buttery, it made the wine feel fresher as opposed to pairing it with the citrusy seafood we had yesterday which made the wine feel low acid in contrast. 89

2023 Escudo Rojo Gran Reserva Sauvignon Blanc Casablanca 

Escudo Rojo is the label of Mouton Rothschild in Chile. Escudo Rojo is the Spanish translation of the Rothschild name, or literally “Red Shield.” They also help produce the Chilean iconic wine, Almaviva, which is a project between Mouton and Concha y Toro. Escudo Rojo is not as well distributed as Lafite’s Chilean project, Los Vascos, but it also produces Bordeaux style reds from the Central Valley and has expanded to whites. I’ve only had their reds, which I find to be more on the modern side, so I expect their Casablanca Sauvignon Blanc to be fairly standard and crowd pleasing like the rest of the region. 

This comes from Las Dichas, which is a part of Casablanca closer to the coast (about 12 km). It spends 6 months in vats with lees stirring. It seems like previous vintages were called Reserva, but now they call this Gran Reserva. Such labels don’t have strict requirements like in France, so a lot of producers fool around with these category names to help marketing.  

The nose is a bit shy but starts off fresh and citrusy. A bit of baked asparagus and herbs eventually come through. The palate continues with citrus and passion fruit with a salty, minerally finish. This is rather standard Casablanca Sauvignon Blanc, but with a bit more body and creaminess, probably from the lees aging. There’s less green pyrazine than average too. 89

Conclusion

Although I sometimes set up themes for my wine reviews that I expect to go one way to illustrate a point pedagogically for readers, I also sometimes set up themes where I’m completely exploring myself and know less what to expect.  For this comparison, I thought it was going to be the former, but the Loire Valley Sauvignon Blanc I chose was atypical. However, it was still different from the Casablanca Sauvignon Blanc, which was surprisingly more minerally and higher in acid than the Loire version but still lighter overall. I expected the Loire Valley version to be more minerally while the Chilean one was supposed to be fruitier and lighter with perhaps more obvious herbaceous notes. At the same time, I expected them to be more similar to each other than either compared to an oaked version from California or Bordeaux. 

They’re perfectly fine for their entry level price range. However, I would just pair the Chidaine with less acidic, more savory dishes while the Escudo Rojo should pair with more classic Sauvignon Blanc pairings like ceviche, raw seafood with lemon, salads, goat cheese, etc. 

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