The Best Sauvignon Blanc...Part 3

Let me correct two misstatements from the previous blog. While good Pinot Noir should be a lighter red wine, it should also have an earthy dimension. If it is too crisp and clean with bright varietal fruit and lacks an earthiness, then that wine has a fault in my opinion. All things to their balance, I guess.

Then as to my comment about cookie cutter pinots, I believe I misstated that too. There should be a norm, a model for pinot, and since the finest pinot comes from Burgundy, France, that should be what we should be looking for in any pinot. Now since that goal is unattainable to date then we should look for reasonable approximations. Now back to New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc...

We have already said that New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc got its start in the 1970s when economic and cultural changes were taking place there. At that time New Zealand saw its first vintage dated varietal wines but in any effort to get a new industry started, mistakes were to be made. Wrong grape varietal plantings and winemaking stylistic choices (oak) are just two. 1977 marks the vintage that proved to be the turning point for this industry when the Sauvignon Blanc produced that year was so good that larger scale investment increases demonstrated the commitment needed to keep the project on track.

Unintended consequences in the history of product development are always noteworthy. Who would have thought that the large established New Zealand dairy industry would play a role in the new budding wine industry? Apparently stainless steel dairy equipment was utilized by early New Zealand winemakers for cleanliness purposes only to reap rewards in the wine itself which seemingly showed an intensified purity of the intrinsic Sauvignon Blanc fruit flavors.

And what are those flavors? Honeydew, key lime, passionfruit, grapefruit, and lemon are most often mentioned. How about cut grass, celery seed, and nettles for the herbal component. Minerality always must be there and yes, a piercing acidity too. And that concludes this chapter with one more to go on this subject.