Well, the annual Sauvignon skirmish between Australian winemakers, sommeliers, high-profile PR personalities and their New Zealand counterparts has just taken place. I didn’t care much for what was said by “my side” and I was unimpressed by the sanctimonious responses from certain people over the ditch. I’ll call it a draw and hope it doesn’t happen again next year.
Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is a more than valid style, it represents excellent synergy between grape and region and sometimes I like drinking the better versions. On the other hand, our retail stores are full of cheap and nasty, acidic, slurpy sugared examples that seem to be the result of over-production and stupid tax breaks. If these weren’t issues and the damn stuff wasn’t so ubiquitous here then we might all recognise its inherent worth.
Dog Point make good Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. I really enjoy the “Section 94″ but this is an impressive wine too. More straight-laced but with plenty of interest and a real sense of balance. Passionfruit, grass, cut herbs, gooseberry and guava are tempered by fresh citrus and zest with lees adding a softer note and fine, gentle acidity carrying the wine with aplomb towards a flinty, mineral finish. There’s persistence here too. Ignore the inane rhetoric and tuck in. 92 Very Good
Region: Marlborough
Alcohol: 13.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $27
Tasted: February 2013
Bravo for mentioning it. For me you’ve hit the nail with the comment: ” full of cheap and nasty, acidic, slurpy sugared examples”.
I’ve chosen a very small part of what is written, but if I were a quality producer I’d be equally concerned at how my signature variety/ region/ country are represented in my principal export market (ring any parallels). But there you go. Seemed only one party wanted to converse that day.
Thanks Stuart. At least someone is interested in engaging in dialogue.