Kosher Food and Drink

ESSA, Blanc Fumé, Cape South Coast, Sauvignon Blanc/Sémillon, 2023

After some time, I finally got my hands on a bottle of this ballyhooed, small-production Blanc Fumé after a series of false starts.

Blanc Fumé vs. Fumé Blanc vs. Sauvignon Blanc vs. Bordeaux Blanc

The 2023 ESSA, Blanc Fumé is a Sauvignon Blanc/Sémillon blend, and could also could be called “Bordeaux Blanc,” white wines made primarily from Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, and occasionally Muscadelle. Blanc Fumé is the name traditionally given to Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire Valley which is aged in oak. Fumé is French for “smoky” and blanc of course means white.

In the late 1960’s, Robert Mondavi famously gave new life to Californian Sauvignon Blanc, at the time a “boring” blending grape primarily used for sweet wines, copying the Loire style of oak aging the Sauvignon Blanc, but flipping the name to Fumé Blanc. Nowadays, the terms “Sauvignon Blanc” and “Fumé Blanc” are synonymous in the United States, with some winemakers producing unoaked Fumé Blanc. Confusing, no doubt.

In any case, the ESSA Blanc Fumé is made in the Loire style. I opened this bottle just slightly chilled to about 60 degrees, careful not to mute the subtleties of this wine, which was made similarly to the ESSA, Altira, 2023 ($20), with the difference being the Blanc Fumé’s greater percentage of new French oak usage.

The Origin Story of the ESSA Blanc Fumé 2023

The Sauvignon Blanc portion was barrel fermented and aged sur lie the entire time in the new French oak for 11 months. “To be honest, it’s not that I forgot it, but I did not have focus for it,” Rynderman told me. “It was made for blending later on for the Altira. But instead of blending it into the Altira, I asked what we could do if we blended the Altira into the barrel of Sauvignon Blanc.” 

Rynderman continued, “So Instead of a larger bottling of Altira, I made a Blanc Fumé in 2023. In 2024 we focused on Sémillon exclusively and the Blanc Fumé will return for 2025, as we have barrels and barrels of it.” Following the immediate success of the Blanc Fumé, Royal Wine, Inc. the importer and distributor of the wine, asked for a larger production, which will hit the shelves early next year.

Like the Altira, 2023, the Blanc Fumé is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon, but with 75/25 SB/Sémillon compared to the 50/50 of the Altira. 

Rynderman chose acacia culled from northern France, as with the Altira, which allows for more subtle wood influence while adding “spice” and texture to wine. Acacia usage is still uncommon, but growing, and used most often for Sauvignon Blanc. “At $830 to $875 per barrel, acacia’s pricing falls between American oak—typically $400 to $550 a barrel—and French oak barrels, which start around $900 and can easily exceed $1,000 a pop.” (Seven Fifty Daily)

Both the Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon were harvested within a day of each other, whole cluster pressed, underwent 24 hours of settling, then were racked and transferred to barrels for fermentation. The Blanc Fumé is aged in 500 litre acacia barrels for fermentation, and 100% new French oak barrels, 50% tank aged with no wood.

Kosher Sauvignon Blanc/Sémillon Blends

The ESSA Blanc Fumé is another welcome addition to the kosher wine scene, joining two favorites of mine in the Bordeaux Blanc category, the aforementioned ESSA, Altira, 2023 and the Dalton, White of Earth, Elkosh, Sauvignon Blanc/Sémillon, 2023 ($25). As with the Dalton, the ESSA was aged sur lie to increase the wine’s complexity and mouthfeel while reducing the potential of oxidation. Displaying the myriad of vinification choices winemakers have at their disposal, the ESSA Blanc Fumé was aged in new French oak and acacia and the Dalton was aged in clay amphorae.

The resulting wines show the difference, with the porous clay softening the acidity of the White of Earth and the ESSA holding its core acid backbone, even with the oak lees aging, which do show their face in the aromatics.

ESSA, Blanc Fumé, 2023 Tasting Notes

In the glass, light golden yellow. On the nose, lemon, pear, grapefruit, bergamot, white blossom, minerality, white pepper, vanilla. The palate is awash in citrus fruit with a slight roundness and creaminess on the palate, yet still framed with high acidity. More mature and complex than the Altira, but both are gems. Delicious wine. 

$30, 13.1% ABV, non-mevushal

The ESSA, Blanc Fumé, 2023 is sold out and difficult to find but if you are lucky enough to snag one, or still sitting on some, you can certainly allow this bottle some cellar aging. It should evolve nicely over the next 5 years or so. Drink now until 2030. This versatile wine would pair beautifully with a variety of foods but would be a perfect accompaniment to a lemon butter cod dish.

A final note: Thanks to Leibi Kagan for the bottle and to others such as Yaakov Malachowski for their wholehearted attempts.