Domaine Saint Roch 2009 Touraine Sauvignon

Very pale straw color. One review I read said goldenrod: I don't agree.

Smell of ginger ale, pear, hints of freshly mowed grass and cat-pee.

Dry pear flavor, lime, mineral.

Very good medium bodied wine for $16.99. Historically, I'm repelled by the mouthfeel of Sauvignon Blanc. Wonder where I learned that, this is quite nice.

Jean-Francois Merieau 2007 Le Bois Jacou Touraine Gamay

I don't think I've before had a Gamay from anywhere except Beaujolais, certainly not from France.

Medium-dark cherry red color. Strawberry smell, leather, hint of banana.

Strawberry/banana flavor, hint of peach, some carbonic maceration character, not a bit of oak. There's a little thinness in the finish. I can't distinguish this from a fair-to-good Beaujolais-Villages.

At $14.95, it's a fair buy but a dollar or two less would make it seem much more of a bargain. Still, I suppose real Beaujolais for $15 would be quite a find lately. I suffer from too clear a memory of the days of the wine lake, since drained to distill bioethanol.

Domaine Baron 2007 Touraine Sauvignon Blanc Les Vieilles Vignes

I've long had mixed feelings about Sauvignon Blanc; finding dry Sauv Blanc to often exhibit a 'mouthful of fat' mouth-feel, an oleaginous thickness that I've found disgusting, but I greatly admire Sauternes and new world analogues: sweet Sémillon / Sauv Blanc blends on which I dote. I feel obliged to keep trying this noble grape at irregular intervals.

Medium straw color.

Honeydew melon smell.

Tart off-dry fruity taste of melon, white grape juice, Bartlett pear, sugar cane. Slightly petillant.

This is an appealing wine for $12.49. I particularly appreciate the absence of the smell and flavor of lawn clippings, which I often detect in Sauvignon Blanc.