I would like to start this review with a question. Here is the question. How many of you guys ever feel that you have to like a wine? I mean after all how would you look if you said that a wine from a prestigious winery or vineyard does not taste good? After all, how would you feel if you didn't like a wine that the wine industry "experts" said was fantastic and "at the top of it's class"? Don't all wines from Peju or Stags Leap taste great? I want to just paint a picture for you for a minute. You walk into a party where "fine" wines are being tasted and here comes a wine from a prestigious winery and immediately everyone begins to talk about how they have heard such great things about this particular wine. You hear things like "oh, the 2015 vintage" or "I have heard so much about the wine maker". The pressure is now on for you to nit simply like the wine but love it. Pretty soon you are convinced that you REALLY do love this wine. Well folks if you are like that you might not like this article and this entire wine blog, you might also wonder why I most of the time review small label wines. All of this brings me to the wine I am reviewing today. The 2016 Spencer Family Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc Reserve that I received from "Wine Insiders" (
https://wineinsiders.com/). Here is a wine that in actuality is made from the region of who knows where, with grapes grown from the region of who knows where. Yes, they will try and fool you by placing on the bottle "Vinted & Bottled" by but that really says nothing about where the grapes were grown or for that matter what winery actually made the wine. What I did find in relation to "Spencer Family Vineyards" is that they are supposedly located in San Martin, CA with an address that comes back to Arroyo Seco Vineyards. So with that knowledge in place, let's get into the review.
Today I want to begin at the label. No, this is not one of those wines that promises you the world from looking at the label. To me however, the label came across as simple yet perfect for the varietal. The wine was able to be seen nicely because there was a lot of uncovered glass in order to allow it to be seen while the label itself communicated a nice reasonably priced white wine.
On the nose the wine was on display from a short distance away and I was able to pick up a Peach / Nectarine notes that were indeed calling my name. Nothing overpowering mind you but nice enough for me too sit up and take notice.
Looking at the wine in my glass displayed nothing special. The wine was pretty clear with a tinge of slight Gold along the edges. While not necessarily a bad thing as I have had many wines of the same varietal with the same display that turned out to be very nice indeed.
On the Palette now I will tell you here in the beginning that I liked this wine. The first thing that I noted was that there was a slight acidity on the finish that I really enjoyed. Nothing crazy here and nothing that threw me back in the chair or made me take special note of it other than the fact that it was present in just just enough strength to actually make me gently sit back and take note of it. Peach and nectarine were upfront as well on the Bouquet. These notes were "cut" by a note of grass that was present in a fairly decent amount and was very effective at tweaking notes that could otherwise be over done. The wine displayed a good amount of crispness to it as well as a moderate but not overpowering amount of sugar that is to be expected from this varietal depending on the weather the grapes are grown in. By the way I want to comment a little more on that note of grass. A lot of times that particular note can be really overdone but not here. In here the note compliments all the other notes and yet allows the wine to express all it's note nicely. There was also the ever so slightest note (or feel) of Lemon that was only sensed on the sides of the Tongue and was not harsh. Notes of melon such as Honeydew combine with the grass note, the acidity and to a small extent (but clearly enough) the Nectarine to power but not over power this wine forward across the Palette. If you would like more to the wine, I am happy to inform you that there is a light yet (again) perfectly balanced note of Grapefruit that is just prominent enough to remind you what Grapefruit tastes like and make you want one. This note is detected just enough to be effective and causes no overpowering sour note to be exhibited. This is more along the lines of a New Zealand style Sauvignon Blanc although there is a good amount of typical hot weather climate notes spread throughout the wine. Well guys, time to wrap thing up here. It's time to give my final thought on this wine. So with that being said, let me get too it.
There is actually a sense of refinement here that I was surprised to find for a wine selling for $15 and boasting an Alcohol percentage of 13%. After drinking a few glasses of this wine I am starting to begin to think of some serious Sushi and I think when you taste this wine you might begin thinking that as well. I wish I could tell you more about the pedigree of this wine but I cannot. I have put in a request to Wine Insiders for more information and if I hear back before I publish this article I will add whatever relevant information that I get on to you. That is about it readers. Oh, I guess there is one more item to add. On The Desert Wine Guy rating scale, I give this nice wine 92 (Excellent Highly recommended, holds to varietal standards) points. A very well done wine.
The Desert Wine Guy
UPDATE - It has been a couple of months since my request for more information on this wine has been submitted to Wine Insiders and I have not received any response to that inquiry.
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