A tasty look at sav blancs
MIDJANUARY. Depending on where you are as you read this, you may be basking in the glow of summer and dreaming of a cool sav blanc, the condensation forming beads as it trickles down the bottle.
Of course, writing this ahead of publication is fraught with the risk that it could actually be cool and bucketing down, with sturdy reds far more in your sights?
I’ll take my chances and plump for the former, as this very interesting and varied collection of sav blancs are quite simply summer in a glass.
2019 Mahi Marlborough sauvignon blanc
Price: $24 Rating: Very good to excellent
Very perfumed nose with fruit pastilles, musk and tropical fruits, gunflint & citrus blossom with aeration. Fruit sweetness leads the palate, gooseberry becoming more evident, the tropical fruit an undercurrent with lemon & lemon zest notes keeping this fresh. Supple initially, becoming more racy with time it finishes on tangy, zesty notes. Creeps up on me.
www.mahiwine.co.nz
2020 Giesen Uncharted Marlborough sauvignon blanc Price: $19.99
Rating: Very good to excellent
Sweetly fruited perfume, nettles, evolving to dried herbs and a fleeting sweat note. Fresh & bright, nice balance and integration here with the gooseberry and nettle notes joined by a touch of mandarin. A pretty classic Marlborough style, the acidity refreshing yet not shrill, and all about sheer drinkability.
www.giesen.co.nz
2019 Churton Marlborough sauvignon blanc
Price: $37
Rating: Outstanding
Complex nose of wine gums, fruit sherbet, sweat, gunflint, honey, bramble and lime. Texturally rich, followed by a rush of lemony citrus, ripe fruit, gooseberry, fruit pastille and lime, pea pod later. Intensity and depth, swelling in the glass, with super texture and a long, long close. Racy and refreshing, this is compelling stuff.
www.churtonwines.co.nz
2020 Black Cottage Marlborough sauvignon blanc Price: $18 Rating: Very good
Bold nose with capsicum, cut grass, fruit sherbet and a wisp of sweat. Noticeable fruit sweetness with candied fruit nuances, yet enough zesty acidity to keep this interesting. Develops more raciness and punchy acidity as it opens up, highlighting gooseberry on the close. Supple, nicely balanced and a real crowdpleasing style.
www.blackcottagewines.co.nz
2020 The Vegan Wine Project Marlborough sauvignon blanc Price: $18$19 Rating: Excellent to outstanding
Sweat, gooseberry and cut grass, adding a little smoky nuance. Supple and rounded, sweetly fruited front palate flooded with ripe gooseberry, a hint of fruit pithy chalkiness adding interest to the texture. This has flavour depth without heaviness, neatly balanced acidity and really ticks the box on refreshment. This has summer drinking written all over it.
www.theveganwineproject.com
2020 Riverby Estate Single Vineyard Marlborough sauvignon blanc Price: $22
Rating: Very good to excellent
Passionfruit, feijoa, sweat, moving to capsicum & gooseberry. A powerful nose that captures your attention. Grassy, nettley palate with ripe gooseberry and very racy acidity. A creamy hint on the close (a little rs perhaps) that helps to balance the acidity adding apple notes and fruit sweetness. Very typical Marlborough style.
www.riverbyestate.com
2019 Loveblock tee No Sulphur Added Marlborough sauvignon blanc
Price: $26.99 Rating: Excellent
Fascinatingly different nose, with florality, geranium, feijoa and peapod. Rich and supple entry before a raft of acidity charges in with notes of chamomile, smoke, citrus and apple cider. Totally outside the realm of your ‘typical’ Savvie, this is ‘Sav
Blanc, but not as we know it Jim’! Textural, complex and utterly delightful in its point of difference.
www.loveblockwine.com
2020 Saint Clair Pioneer Block 3 Dillon’s Point Marlborough sauvignon blanc Price: $28.90 Rating: Excellent
Dried herbs, smoke, shifting to ripe apple, fruit jube & musk, grassy with time. Quite a racy front palate lending a real lipsmacking quality to this. Interesting contrast of flavours on the palate mixing green herbs, apple, fruit jube and citrus, developing a sweet ‘n’ sour nuance that works really well along with the crunchy close. A tasty little wine.
www.saintclair.co.nz