Salut! Mouton Cadet Launches Summer Sauvignon

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Summer trends always fascinate me: the way a beach bag appears—seemingly out of nowhere—and suddenly you see it everywhere. One summer it’s a canvas tote, the next, a straw market bag. Every summer there’s a wine that comes into fashion over Memorial Day and suddenly it’s all you see people drinking (and all you want to drink). A few years ago Whispering Angel rosé was so popular wine stores on the East End of Long Island sold out of the stuff before the Fourth of July.

This summer I’m betting on an outlier: a white Bordeaux from Mouton Cadet that is as accessible in flavor as it is in price. I got a preview of this mineral, fruity, straightforward 2016 Sauvignon at a tasting held earlier this month in New York by Mouton Cadet owner Philippe Sereys de Rothschild. He said that 40% of the U.S. wine market is white wine bought by women. In the 1930s Mouton Cadet white wine was the most successful Bordeaux brand in the United States. Sereys de Rothschild and his team are trying to revive that trend by revamping their wines, making them more accessible and improving the quality. In this $12 bottle they may just hit the mark. — by Kate Betts