Sauv yourself a bit of hassle and give this one a wacke

Just get me a nice Sauvignon Blanc – I don’t want any surprises. With instructions like that ringing in my ears, the options were pretty limited.

Thing is, we were heading out to a new bistro down the road to do our bit for the economy.

I say bistro because, well it’s called Stove Bistro so who am I to argue?

It’s bring your own, so I’d also instructions to get a tin of that readymade gin and tonic which obviously I ignored so what little street cred I have would remain intact.

I’m glad we made it down before Stormont decided to close all the restaurants.

The food was cracking and there was even baked Alaska on the menu, which is reason enough to give a new restaurant a turn.

I’d a perfectly cooked piece of f lat iron steak with duck fat chips so Sauv Blanc probably wasn’t ideal, but I wasn’t for bringing two bottles.

So to compensate, I splashed out on one of the best Sauv Blancs about. Greywacke, created by chief winemaker at Cloudy Bay Kevin Judd, is more chiselled than David Gandy’s jawline.

This Marlborough wine has a truly impressive, solid, rich core which i s j ust so p er fectly balanced with a mineral, edgy, laser-like acidity.

It’s like a Sauv Blanc that’s

It’s like a Sauv Blanc that’s moved up a few weight divisions

moved up a few weight div i si o n s a f t e r s o me serious training. And just in case you’re wondering, as I know I was, it’s apparently pronounced “greywacky”.

The name comes from the fact there’s lots of these rounded greywacke river stones in the soils of the vineyard in Rapaura.

It’s a sedimentary rock which is widely found in Marlborough, if you’re interested in geology.

Anyway, it was a lesson in how you may well think there’s some sort of ceiling you reached a right while back with Sauv Blanc, but then you shell out a few quid and realise there’s a whole other level out there.

But fear not if you want to save a few nuggets because t h e r e’s some belter S auv Blancs out there either side of a tenner that have that little bit extra.

A really nice one I happened across this last week was The S hy Al batro ss, also from New Zealand. Seek it or one of these out this weekend – but don’t forget the offies are closed at 8pm!