The Desert Wine Guy - 2018 Cannonball Eleven - Sauvignon Blanc, Dry Creek Valley

 

2018 Cannonball - Sauvignon Blanc, Dry Creek Valley

   Alright folks, welcome back to my wine blog. Today I need to just get this review out because I want to ensure that if you should happen to come across this wine, you stay far away from it. I am sure that this last statement undoubtedly gave away my feelings concerning this wine and therefore, I will try and keep this review short and to the point. Here is a wine that I bought simply because of the winemaker which is Ondine Chattan. In the recent past I have reviewed the 2018 Chardonnay, Russian River Valley (https://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-desert-wine-guy-2018-ondine-chattan.html) which she created and ended up giving it a solid 93 points.I also reviewed a few other wines by her and found most of them to be pretty nice.
   Let's dig into this particular wine now. Today I am reviewing the 2018 Cannonball - Sauvignon Blanc that I bought from Naked Wines for $17.99 but weirdly sells for $14.99 (2019) from the actual winery (https://www.shareasplash.com/product/2019-cannonball-sauvignon-blanc) itself with $5 shipping if you buy three bottles. The grapes for this wine come from the Dry Creek Valley AVA which is located in the Northern Sonoma Valley.

Winemaker - Ondine Chattan

   Let's talk label. I get it, it's a kid doing a Cannonball into the pool. What I don't get is or understand though is the relationship between that and the wine. Once again (unfortunately), I see a white wine in a dark bottle and I think that someone is certainly missing out on visually showcasing this wine (marketing). This label would look so much better on a much lighter colored bottle that show the wines color off. To me, this appears to be more of a label and bottle better suited for a red wine. 
   Now that we have that stuff out of the way, let's check out the bouquet. The first time I brought the glass to my nose I was rather happy as it gave off the impression of being a tropical, Sauvignon Blanc which happens to be more to my liking by the way and also how I believe the varietal should be presented. A pretty nice melon is presented here on the nose and even though it is on the lighter side, it still works rather nicely. I am also getting an ever so slight note of toast as well that comes on the end of the nose. Kiwi is the final note here on the nose and it comes across rather nicely as well.
   It is now palate time folks and this is a busy palate in general. First up here I will tell you that this is a dry Sauvignon Blanc, a very dry, Sauvignon Blanc and as I said, it is not my preferred style/expression of the varietal. This is also most definitely not what I would consider to be either a tropical, a semi-tropical or even a fruity wine. Almost immediately the wine starts off the palate really offensively. Lime, yes folks, lime. That lime is a big....no, huge note here in the wine even though it comes into play just after the mid-palate, it certainly does leave its mark on the entire wine. You know what? I am going to keep this wine chilled and open in order to see it it develops at all, i'll see you in thirty minutes. Okay so it is a half hour later now and  folks.....I am very sorry but I need to put this out right here, right now. This wine still presents an enormous amount of lime harshness that try as I might, I can't push aside nor honestly, should I have to. This is a very tough review for me because not only does it mean putting down a wine from a winemaker who's wines I generally enjoy but it means me drinking a bit more of this wine and I really don't want to drink anymore of it. That stupid lime note really is a killer! As I try to move on here, i'll tell you that the wine also does manage to put out some tropical fruit such as nectarine and it is good but almost immediately killed by you guessed it, lime.

The wine also presents a toast note which could normally be really nice in the varietal but here in this wine it somehow manages to latch onto that dreaded lime note and the two become best friends working together towards what is in my opinion, the death of the wine and so it's just not good. The wine tries it's best to push aside that lime by throwing out some peach as well but that brooding lime is STILL a wine killer. I'm done folks, the wine is not good and definitely not a Sauvignon Blanc that I would ever want to deal with again. That half hour did nothing to soften or mellow this wine out but if you still insist, you might do an experiment of giving it a year to develop a bit. 
   In closing here guys, the nose of this wine is completely different than the palate. If the palate could live up to the nose, the wine might have been rated a lot higher. On The Desert wine Guy rating scale I am giving this wine a very lame 87 points. I have a little over a half a bottle left and it is headed down the drain.

                                                                                                                                     The Desert Wine Guy

P.S. - This is not my first review of a Cannonball wine as I also rated the 2017 Cannonball Eleven - Cabernet Sauvignon (Ondine Chattan) which I found to be lacking as well.

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