safe·ty wine

safe·ty wine (noun): A wine that is preferred for its consistency and predictability, particularly when choosing a wine sold by the glass.

In the August 21, 2010 edition of the Wall Street Journal, wine writer Lettie Teague described the resurgence of Sauvignon Blanc and its popularity as a safety wine.

Here, she recounts a  conversation about Sauvignon Blanc and safety wines with her lawyer friend Kim:

"Lawyers don't drink cheap Sauvignon Blanc," I told him. "Lawyers drink Napa Cabernets or Bordeaux, or if they're divorce lawyers, maybe Cristal or Krug. Cheap Sauvignon Blanc isn't a lawyerly drink." But Kim resisted my counsel. He liked Sauvignon Blanc because, he said, it was lively and refreshing and above all consistent. Sauvignon Blanc, in short, was his safety drink.

A week later when Kim hadn't heard from a single partner or associate, I decided to invite some of my own friends to our tasting. Their response was immediate. It was apparently their safety wine too. "It's the only wine I drink by the glass," said my friend Alison. "I feel like I always know what I'm going to get."

Writing in 2004 on his wine blog Vinography, Alder Yarrow wrote about his safety wine (a white from the Cotes de Provence, in his case):

There are times, though, when searching out new countries, grape varieties, and appellations just takes too much energy. At times like these, usually after a long week, I just want a nice meal and a good glass of wine to go with it. Like most people in these situations of part-exhaustion, I tend to stick to the predictable -- the least risky choice that is most likely to yield the most pleasurable result.

So when I found myself dining alone the other night, and not wanting to think much about which white wine I wanted, I reached for a safety wine. I had never had it before, but I knew it was: white, a blend of different grapes, French, and it was from Provence.

There aren't many sure bets in the wine world. There's a lot of crap out there to be sure. But if you're gonna order wine, sight unseen and untasted, I think it's pretty hard to go wrong with most of the wines in the Cotes de Provence. At least the ones that end up getting imported here.