Douglas Green 2004 Sauvignon Blanc
I love Sauvignon Blanc… I just have an insatiable appetite for it, because whilst Merlot can be a bit of a vineyard slut, Sauvignon Blanc shows a different face wherever she grows. Coming to the United States I was very interested to pick up the pink grape fruit notes in the Marlborough region. I love the fruit in new world wines, but I soon found that too much fruit can amount to one-dimensionality and soon saturates the palate, and if one is drinking their Sauvignon with Salmon, that pink grape-fruit and Cat’s pee may be a little tainting to the pure flavour of the fish. Insofar as Pouilly Fume is concerned, I’m a little squeamish about white wine that costs over $15.00, purely becausethere is so much stuff that’s better or comparable wine from Spain, Chile, Argentina and South Africa for under $15.00 that it makes no sense to me to spend more. I also find Pouilly Fume to be a little too austere and minerally. Thus I come to South Africa, whose style is often summed up as being ‘old world style with new world flair.’ This may sound like a bunch a marketing trite, but I think that statement is spot-on… because South Africa subscribes to old world wine making traditions and most of the wines are backed up by fine terroir by planting the right varietal in the right soil in its best position – and good vineyard management and high temperatures give is that lush, berry bursting, sunshine-in-a-glass New World component. Douglas Green 2004 Sauvignon Blanc is a perfect example of this style I have described, for an older SB it has none of those tinned, pea aromas but instead carries a surprising dose of fresh-cut pineapple with figs and minerals on the nose… following through with a nice electricity on the palate with a clean, zesty and crisp finish. This is a perfect Lobster wine as its fresh on the nose, clean on the palate and has a good dose of acidity to break through the all that garlic butter.
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