2012 WHITEHAVEN SAUVIGNON BLANC
MARLBOROUGH NEW ZEALAND
On Sale this week $16.99
Over the last six months the most popular wines at Harney's have been the red blends (open and drink immediately), box wines (convenient for larger gatherings and for longer storage), and New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, which exhibits an intense grapefruit/guava/lime/cut-grass taste, and has become known as the Marlborough style, a region of the South Island. I myself prefer a softer, more subdued grapefruit and cut-grass taste as exhibited by Chilean Sauvignon Blanc and by the French Pouilly Fume/Fume Blanc , Sancerre, and white Bordeaux, in which the Sauvignon Blanc grape is a major component. Among the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, Oyster Bay, Dry Land, Cloudy Bay (the first to popularize New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc in this country), and Whitehaven seem to be the favorites. As I always recommend, a side by side (by side) tasting will immediately reveal the difference of styles among New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, the French treatment, and that of Chile.
