Dog Point Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2011
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
Complex on the nose and richly textured in the mouth, this wine delivers it all. Hints of struck flint and wild onion accent grapefruit aromas, while the flavors range easily from pink grapefruit and red currant to delicate herb shadings. It’s full without being too full, with a potent yet refreshing finish that seemingly lingers forever.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2011 Sauvignon Blanc gives notes of pink grapefruit, apples and orange blossoms with suggestions of sulphides and ginger. The medium-bodied palate lends a pleasant touch of silkiness to the texture, with crisp acid supporting the elegant fruit, and finishing long.
Other Vintages
2023-
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine
- Vinous
-
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert
-
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Suckling
James -
Wong
Wilfred -
Parker
Robert
-
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine
-
Suckling
James -
Wong
Wilfred -
Parker
Robert
-
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Wong
Wilfred -
Parker
Robert
-
Suckling
James - Decanter
-
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James
-
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert
-
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Spectator
Wine
Almost since its inception, Dog Point has been recognized as among the very top (arguably the very top) wine producers in New Zealand. Their two very different Sauvignon Blancs, their Pinot Noir and their Chardonnay are all wines of astounding quality and complexity not just in the context of New Zealand wines, but globally. Their wines are hand-crafted from estate fruit grown on some of the oldest vines and best sites in Marlborough, some plantings dating back to the 1970s. These older well-established vines situated on free draining silty clay loams are supplemented with fruit from closely planted hillside vines. Yields are low, and the grapes are hand-harvested. That’s our attempt at an understated New Zealand statement: few hand-pick fruit in New Zealand (95% is machine-harvested), and Dog Point’s Sauvignon Blanc yields, for example, are 50% below the average for the region.
Dog Point’s focus on pruning, soil health through organic farming, use of native yeasts and for one wine selected neutral commercial yeasts, all point to a quality and detail-obsessed producer intimately familiar with its region. Dog Point is in fact the result of a collaboration between two Cloudy Bay alumni, enologist James Healy and founding viticulturalist Ivan Sutherland. Both left Cloudy Bay at the end of 2003, and the first vintage of Dog Point released was the 2002 vintage.
The winemaking is non-interventionist, and all the wines (with the exception of the stainless steel Sauvignon Blanc) are given extended barrel aging with minimal racking and handling. Bottling is done without fining and with minimal filtration. The resulting wines are intense, complex, with racy natural acidity and ripe, full fruit flavors.
The name Dog Point dates from the earliest European settlement of Marlborough and the introduction of sheep to the district. These were the days of few fences, of boundary riders and boundary-keeping dogs. Shepherds’ dogs sometimes became lost or wandered off and eventually bred into a wild pack. Their home was a tussock and scrub covered hill, overlooking the Wairau Plains, designated by the early settlers as Dog Point.
Recognized for its distinctively herbaceous and aromatic, Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand is perfectly suited to the grape with its maritime climate, plenty of rainfall and abundant sunshine. Producers have almost unilaterally embraced cutting-edge winery technology, resulting in clean, high-quality wines at every price point from wallet-friendly to premium. Sauvignon blanc is at its best in Marlborough but thrives throughout as the country. It is New Zealand’s most planted and successful variety, also accounting for an overwhelming majority of its exports.