“Quick!” a friend says over the telephone, her voice frantic. It’s nine o’clock on a Sunday morning and I was wrapped up in an intriguing dream. “My husband just text messaged me — he invited his soccer team to join us for brunch after practice, and I’ve just made a quiche! What wine should I serve?”

Silly fool! Don’t you know ‘real men’ – especially bankers who play soccer on weekends – do not eat quiche?

Of course, we all know that isn’t true (real men love quiche, especially if it is made in an actual home), and that irreverent quips like this are not good manners. I held my tongue and gave it some thought. Men. Quiche. Brunch. Then I said it.

“It’s spring, so try a crisp Sauvignon Blanc,” I began, thinking about regions. Most people think New Zealand these days, but I had just been to a tasting of wines from Washington state and remembered the dry but fruity and brunch-food friendly appeal of Chateau St. Michelle Horse Heaven Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc (2006).

With its sweet, floral noise of honeysuckle, jasmine, and ripe fruit, the wine’s aroma almost tricks you into thinking it will be off-dry (meaning will have some residual sugar) but this wine is actually dry — it’s the fresh, fruity aroma, and also the ripe yellow-fleshed fruit on the palate that give you the perception of sweetness. More than that, Sauvignon Blanc is a great wine to pair with egg-based dishes like quiche and omelets.

Washington state is becoming quite popular for wine these days. Horse Heaven Hills AVA (American Viticultural Area) is named (I hear) because of the tricky ridge where so many horses leapt to their own private heaven. It is located adjacent to the Columbia River in Paterson, Washington. The area is actually a desert that relies on irrigation for the grapes. 2006, the year of this vintage, was a year of extremes in weather as it was cooler than normal, with a wet spring followed by a long, hot summer. What helped the vintage is the diurnal effect of warm days and cool nights, with the cool nights allowing the grapes to keep their natural acidity. Also helpful was the cool spell in mid-September, slowing the ripening down and allowing for more “hang time” for enhanced flavor development. This particular vineyard is characterized by gentle south facing slopes and sandy loam soil.

These days, more than sunlight and water go into grape growing. The yeast for this wine, for example, was specifically designed for the Sauvignon Blanc grape. Fifty-eight percent of the wine was barrel fermented for slight spice and texture, while 42% was stainless steel fermented to preserve the Sauvignon Blanc’s fresh fruit character. And “sure lie” aging (meaning the wine was aged on dead yeast cells) for three months gave it the complexity and structure the winemaker aimed for.

And at about $15, it is a good value for a sunny Sunday brunch when a soccer team just happens to descend on your home.