{"id":13959,"date":"2016-02-12T10:17:08","date_gmt":"2016-02-12T10:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/?p=13959"},"modified":"2016-02-12T10:17:08","modified_gmt":"2016-02-12T10:17:08","slug":"older-new-zealand-sauvignon-blanc-can-it-age-should-we-cellar-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/new-zealand\/older-new-zealand-sauvignon-blanc-can-it-age-should-we-cellar-it","title":{"rendered":"Older New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc: can it age? Should we cellar it?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"aged<\/p>\n

While I was in New Zealand I got to try quite a few older New Zealand Sauvignons. Of course, most punters want the latest vintage of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, and this is really the main point of the style: bright with lovely aromatic interest and a fresh, zippy palate. That’s what made it successful. Young wines.<\/p>\n

But, when Marlborough Sauvignon is made in a certain style, with less emphasis on the aromatic thiols and greenness, and more on texture and concentration, then the results are surprisingly ageworthy. Sometime a bit of barrel fermentation and hand picking of slightly riper fruit can lead to ageworthy wines. But the surprise in this tasting that some of these wines that have aged quite well weren’t made with long life in mind.<\/p>\n

So should you be buying Kiwi Sauvignon to age? I think so, yes, providing that you pick carefully. Some of the more restrained, serious styles develop beautifully in bottle, and they aren’t all that expensive to buy. While it’s fun to catch these wines young, they can offer a lot of pleasure with some bottle age.<\/p>\n

Astrolabe Taihoa Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2009 Kekerengu Coast, Marlborough, New Zealand<\/strong>
\nFine toasty nose with a hint of nuttiness. The palate is very pure with a savoury, nutty saltiness. Very linear with brightness and some tangerine characters. Warmth and smokiness on the nose but really pure with a linear, open character and great acidity. 94\/100<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

Astrolabe Sauvignon Blanc 2006 Marlborough, New Zealand<\/strong>
\nFine, grassy tomato leaf and herb nose leads to a green pepper palate with lovely weight and texture. Supple, textural wine with fine green notes, some mandarin, and spice. 92\/100<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

Clos Henri Sauvignon Blanc 2005 Marlborough, New Zealand<\/strong>
\nToast, pear, peach notes. Very textural and broad with lovely integrated acidity. Some notes of tangerine and apricot. Delicious wine with lovely fine spices. 94\/100<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

Clos Marguerite Sauvignon Blanc 2008 Marlborough, New Zealand<\/strong>
\nFine leafy green pepper nose. Textured palate has broad, slightly figgy green pepper and spice notes with quince and lemons on the finish. 91\/100<\/p>\n

Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc 2008 Marlborough, New Zealand<\/strong>
\nHints of fig and quince on the nose. Lively and bright with nice freshness and some chalkiness. Slight toasty notes and some broad fruit. Has depth, and is evolving very well. 92\/100<\/p>\n

Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc 2005 Marlborough, New Zealand<\/strong>
\nIntense and lively with great acidity. Lovely citrus core with richer pear and spice notes. Beautifully integrated greenness. This wine has such lovely balance and is developing in a classic way. 94\/100<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

Dog Point Section 94 Sauvignon Blanc 2008 Marlborough, New Zealand<\/strong>
\nRich, toasty and textured with peach, grape and nuts. Bold and broad with a fine-grained structure and showing lovely maturity. 93\/100<\/p>\n

Huia Sauvignon Blanc 2005 Marlborough, New Zealand<\/strong>
\nBright, fresh and vivid with nice pear and spice notes. Lovely balande with white peach richness, a hint of cream and some subtle green notes, as well as a hint of toast. Still quite fresh and linear, this is developing nicely and has some grapefruit too. 92\/100<\/p>\n

Lawson’s Dry Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2006 Marlborough, New Zealand
\n<\/strong>Fine and slightly minty with citrus and green pepper on the nose. Lovely rounded lemon, grapefruit and pear palate. So lively and intense with real brightness and purity, and some crystalline fruits. Appealing and vivid. 93\/100
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

Sacred Hill Sauvage Sauvignon Blanc 2007 Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand<\/strong>
\nSpicy, citrussy nose with some toastiness. The palate is broad textured and shows lovely rich melon and pear fruit with fine-grained structure and beautiful complexity. Shows lovely development. 94\/100<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

Spy Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2005 Marlborough, New Zealand<\/strong>
\nBold with toast, quince and vivid pear and melon fruit, backed by good acidity. Bold, rich and toasty showing nice breadth of flavour. Rich and toasty. 91\/100<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

Yealands Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2009 Marlborough, New Zealand<\/strong>
\nAromatic fig, pear and green pepper nose, with a chalky edge. The palate is bold and full with lovely crystalline fruits. Broad, rich and long. 92\/100<\/p>\n

Find these wines with wine-searcher.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While I was in New Zealand I got to try quite a few older New Zealand Sauvignons. Of course, most punters want the latest vintage of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,16],"tags":[352,355],"class_list":["post-13959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-zealand","category-sauvignon-blanc","tag-new-zealand","tag-sauvignon-blanc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13959"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13970,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13959\/revisions\/13970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}