The Desert Wine Guy - 2012 Anderra Sauvignon Blanc

Today I want to review a wine that I have seen elsewhere rated as high as 88 points. Many times I will do a review of a particular wine and than read other wine reviewers thoughts on that particular wine and my rating and their rating usually agree, not this time however. While I won't go into too much detail early in the article I will tell you that my final score for this wine is at least a 4 point difference from the high of 88 points that I mentioned above.  Why the difference? I really don't know but it does seem that I am the lone standout but that is O.K by me. As I have once said, find someones opinion on a varietal that you agree with and you can be REASONABLY sure that you your opinion will match mine. Todays review is on the 2012 Anderra Sauvignon Blanc from Chile (http://www.wine-anderra.com/en/). This wine happens to have a very famous pedigree to it. The winery and Vineyard that this wine is grown and made from is owned by Baron Philippe de Rothschild and is located at the foothills of the Andes mountains. This range is also known for the varietals of Carmenere, Cabernet Sauvignon and the Sauvignon Blanc, one of which I am reviewing today. Now having a big name attatched to anything does not mean that the product is any good but I figured for the price, why not. Speaking of the price of the wine, today we are talking about a wine that I picked up on clearance for $4.99 at the local mega grocery store. I was entering the store and there was a shopping cart filled with a bunch of these wines as well as other wines of varietals that I have never heard of.  I figured $4.99 for a Sauvignon Blanc and it has the Rothschild name on it? I give it a try. The one drawback that I saw at the time of purchase was that the wine was sealed by a screw cap.
   So let's start off with the bouquet of this little wine. The first notes on the nose is of Peach and Nectarine. Both of these two notes are so fresh tasting in this wine it's almost like you extracted the juice from the actual fruit and poured it into the wine. There are the notes of Grapefruit, Honeydew Melon as well as Pear and a note of toast. Here is another one of those wines that tries it's best to impress from the beginning with a wonderful Bouquet. Let's move on now to the wines appeareance visually, in the glass. In the glass the wine is mostly clear with a very slight golden hue to it which sort of reminds me of a Tequila in appeareance. Now let's put all this together and see just how the wine stands up on the Palatte.

Emmanuel Riffaud, winemaker of the Baron Philippe de Rothschild  Maipo Chile winery.

Initally on the Palatte there is a nice note of fresh Grapefruit which is followed closely behind by the strong note of minerality/acidicness. There is a slightly more than a hint of sweetness in the form of Nectarine as well. This wine seems to find a nice balance and be a wonderful blend of both a nice level of sugar and dryness as well with the dry note winning out and completing this wine as what I would consider a fairly dry wine overall. The balance on my Palette however between these two is perfect.  The minerality of this wine is refreshing and cuts the sugary note just enough to bring it to a very comfortable level. The Grapefruit and Nectaurine along with the Honeydew Melon and Pear (all in the Bouwuet as well) make this a full bodied and very expressive Sauvignon Blanc. This wine has lost nothing in the four (4) years since it has been bottled. There is a hint of toast as well that as you can inamgine messhes with the minerality/acidicness and explodes in your mouth as a bright and juicy wine. Not only that but in my opinion put the wine into the 90 point range. I can invision a nice plate of cold Tuna Sushi going nicely with this wine. The wine has some more years in the cellar as well so if you can get hold of this wine (and I highly recommend that you try) you will be able to enjoy those bottles for at least 5 more years. On the Desert Wine Guy Rating Scale I give this wine 92 points.

                                                                                                               The Desert Wine Guy

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