A Sauvignon Blanc Saga
Wednesday, June 22, 2011 at 12:51PM Coming from Nelson in New Zealand undoubtedly predisposes me to being somewhat ‘anti-Marlborough’. As a young road cyclist with a good ability at climbing hills (This was 25 years and over 25 kg ago!) a visit to race on the flat and often windy roads of the Wairau River plains in Marlborough would usually result in victory for a big, fat, lazy sprinter.........a far from satisfactory outcome for a pure climber. It is hard for a climber to win a race against a sprinter when it is flat. The car regularly had the heavy air of defeat as it headed back over the Whangamoa Saddle to the paradise that is Nelson....... where we raced over hills and where we had scant regard for the cycling produce of Marlborough. Returning to New Zealand repeatedly over the last two decades would always find me frustrated and bewildered by the lack of evolution of the Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc style template. Surely, a fat sprinting wine style if ever there was one. I would arrive in NZ full of expectation that the amazing raw resource that is Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc would have taken a step closer towards its claims of wine greatness and immortality. I would be on the lookout for subtlety, finesse, restraint, length and texture that are the hallmarks of truly great wines regardless of variety and provenance.