A Streetcar Named Blanc du Bois 04/30/12

Do you remember way back when, many millions of milliseconds ago, when I reviewed my first ever Texas wine? A rather prickly Tempranillo, it wasn’t all that great, and I’m realizing my writeup may have left my readers – just as the wine left me – with an overall negative impression of the state’s enological efforts. As it turns out, however, when I acquired my Fire wine for Captain Planet Month, another bottle of #TXwine (as it’s known on Twitter) came along for the ride. And so today I must beg your collective pardon for this brief interruption in my desultorily scheduled programming, as I discuss the second Texan wine I chanced to sample, thematic continuity be damned.

The Tara Winery and Vineyard Blanc du Bois 2010 retails for around $17, and was produced entirely from the Blanc du Bois grape, which I’d never encountered in any wine but this one, and which also may or may not be named after Blanche duBois, the character from A Streetcar Named Desire of whom Marge delivered a stunning portrayal in season four of The Simpsons. Wikipedia holds no answers.

If I had to summarize Blanc du Bois in as few words as possible, I’d say it reminded me of Sauvignon Blanc with a bit less acidity. Yes, I could probably trim that down further, but instead I’m going to elaborate. Quite clear in the glass, with a hint of straw, the predominant aroma was grapefruit, with a distinctive vegetal undertone that I thought might have been asparagus, as well as something softer and more tropical in the background. Very Sauvignon Blanc-y.

The palate was similar, although after a day of being open, the wine did take on more of a honeyed, peachy character – it didn’t become any happier, as far as I can tell, but it did taste more like peaches. Of course, happiness is not a measurable characteristic in wine, so there’s really no way of gauging that. Yet.

On the whole, I found the wine to be well-balanced and subtle, and I’d definitely like to try more examples of the grape. Of course, I doubt I’ll be able to for a while, but for now I’ll even settle for a ruling on whether Blanc du Bois was named as a reference to Streetcar. Feel free to weigh in.

I award the Tara Winery Blanc du Bois thumbs up – a much stronger Texan effort than that last wine I reviewed, of which I shall speak no more.

Be sure to tune in next time for the continuation of Captain Planet Month, where I move on to Wind: the third element of all!

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