Well everyone now that there is bud break occurring in both my Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard as well as the Sauvignon Blanc vineyard I figured it would be nice to review a wine from one of those varietals. Since I seem to tend to do a lot of reviews of the Cabernet Sauvignon varietal I thought it would be nice to do a review of a Sauvignon Blanc this time. So...do a review on the Sauvignon Blanc varietal I did. Well off to the store to buy a wine I guess. While I was there one of my kids pointed out "I like this label, it's pretty" so of course I had to pick that particular wine. to review.
Today's review is on the family owned 2014 Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc http://www.villamaria.co.nz/wines). This wine is from the Marlborough wine region of New Zealand. The Marlborough region is known for its complete LACK of subtlety as far as flavor. The grapes in our review wine are sourced from sites in the Wairau and Awatere Valleys. This region which had it's first Sauvignon Blanc vines planted in 1973 and it's first wines made in commercial quantities in 1979 and has now become known for Sauvignon Blancs that are seriously in your face with Green Pepper, Gooseberry as well as Lemongrass. This wine is certainly no exception. There is a moderate level of acidity that is brilliant and in your face. The Marlborough region has a long growing season due to it's diurnal temperature variation. Autumn in this region is dry and sunny and helps produce the Sauvignon Blanc that it is known for. The country of New Zealand had it's first planting of wine grapes back in 1819 when the Reverend Samuel Mardsen decided to plant 100 vines at a mission located in Kerikeri. In 1851 New Zealand's oldest existing vineyard was created by French Roman Catholic missionaries at Mission Estate in Hawke's Bay. The Marlborough Region itself which is where this wine comes from was first planted in 1973 but it wasn't until the late 1980's that the region came to have the fame for the varietal known as Sauvignon Blanc and is today believed by most wine reviewers to grow the worlds best Sauvignon Blanc. Today there are about 50,000 Acres of grapevines planted and the country of New Zealand gets around 73% of their wine production from there. Another interesting statistic is that around 85% of the country's wine export comes from the Marlborough region. Villa Maria itself was actually founded in 1961 and today is one of New Zealand's leading winemakers. The wine has an Alcohol level at 12.5%
Before we head off into this review I just wanted to say that I REALLY liked this wine. There was an extremely nice bouquet that really showed this wine off upon opening the bottle. Let's begin with the little fact that this is a screw cap wine....well I've said all I want to say about that topic unless you need a lecture on my thoughts on the topic. In my glass the wine exhibited a very slight Golden hue but for the most part was almost clear in color when held to the light. Bringing this glass to my nose the wine showed off aromas of Peach, Lemon & Nectarine notes that reminded me of being out in an Orchard somewhere. There was a note of a very pale Honeydew to add to the complexity here as well. The aroma of Gooseberry was present here as well. Like I do with all wines that display a nice bouquet I started wondering if the wine would be able to transfer all this on over to the Palette. In my mouth the wine was super crisp with acidity and showed notes of fruit such as Lemon , Nectarine and Honeydew, almost all of the notes in the Bouquet. The Honeydew note is sustained throughout the time the wine is in your mouth, nice. As I noted, this wine has a good amount of an acidic side to it and has plenty of grassy / Lemongrass pop to it as well. The majority of Sauvignon Blancs from the Marlborough area of New Zealand seem to have these notes. The notes of Lemon and Nectarine simply explode in your mouth and combined with that good bit of acidity are wonderful. The notes of Gooseberry and Honeydew are not quite as in your face but are almost at that level. The Lemongrass was enjoyable and is well placed in the wine and helps all the other notes present here in creating a stunning wine. As a side note there does appear to be a note of sweetness here that I detected but nothing that alters the wine in a negative way so no worries there.
In wrapping up this review I want to tell you guys that I drank this
wine at room temperature and I believe that elevated the acidic note
that it had. I really believe that if this wine was chilled a bit some
of that acidic note would disappear which would allow the wine to still
have a good bit of acidity to it but tone it down slightly. I think also
that the toning down of the acidity a bit would be very nice and I
probably would have elevated this wine another point on The Desert Wine
Guy Rating Scale if it was toned down but never the less I still really
enjoyed this wine. I must say here folks that this is certainly a very
serious Sauvignon Blanc for very serious Sauvignon Blanc lovers. As far
as food with this wine I envision Oysters, Clam Chowder and lightly
battered Fish & Chips. Well now the moment you have been waiting
for. As I said if not for the good amount of acidity I would have
boosted this wine by 1 point however the score I did give it is great as
it is. I am going to score this great wine at 92 points folks. I highly
recommend that you go buy a couple of bottles but do place a slight
chill on the first prior to drinking. The Desert Wine Guy
www.desertwineguy.blogspot.com/
www.facebook.com/DesertWineGuy?fref=nf
https://twitter.com/DesertWineGuyLV
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgCUb3w1n2S_UGU2yYRkFYQ/videos
No comments:
Post a Comment