Fumé Blanc

Fumé Blanc is a California wine similar to an oaked Sauvignon Blanc, which may be used as a synonym for Sauvignon Blanc in the US.

It was first used as a wine name by Napa Valley's Robert Mondavi Winery in 1968.

Mondavi had been offered a crop of particularly good Sauvignon Blanc grapes by a grower. At that time the variety had a poor reputation in California, but Mondavi recalled enjoying French Pouilly-Fumé, a Sauvignon Blanc-based wine from France's Loire Valley, and he Americanised the name.

Robert Mondavi oak-aged Sauvignon Blanc was released under the name Fumé Blanc in 1968 and became an immediate success, and the name was later officially accepted as a synonym for Sauvignon Blanc.

The most noted example is Mondavi's To-Kalon Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc.