Sauvignon gris sounds like a grape variety dreamt up in a marketing department to cash in on the fashion, especially among women, for both sauvignon blanc and pinot grigio (aka “pinot gris”). But the only thing that’s new about it is the interest producers are taking in it, including making it as a wine in its own right (instead of merely blending it), and their willingness to put the name, previously not thought worth a mention, on labels.

Not that we should exaggerate. Only a handful of wines labelled sauvignon gris (meaning they contain at least 85% of the variety) have reached UK shelves so far, but the trend has been set, so we shall see more — especially from Chile, but also from the Loire, Bordeaux and areas where growers are planting it for the first time.

Technically, it’s a pink-skinned variant of sauvignon blanc and the wines have an obvious family resemblance, but there are differences. Sauvignon gris is less aromatic, which means fewer pungent “green” flavours (grass, gooseberries et al), and it tends to be fuller-bodied. There are two from Chile to try below, and also a sauvignon blanc made with a good measure of sauvignon gris.

Cellar Notes

2007 Vina Leyda Sauvignon Gris, £9.49 Full-bodied, smoky and spicy with tangy green fruit (Oddbins).

2007 Secano Estate Sauvignon Gris, £6.99 Full and dry with spice, citrus and green fruit flavours (Marks & Spencer).

2007 Calvet Limited Release Sauvignon Blanc, £4.99 Light, grassy, grapefruity Bordeaux with 15% sauvignon gris, although the label doesn’t say so (Waitrose).

Wine Bluff “Sauvignon vert is an inferior kind of sauvignon”

Anorak fact: aka “sauvignonasse”, it is widely planted in Chile, although rarely acknowledged on wine labels

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