Huntaway Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2016
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Wine &
Spirits -
Wilfred
Wong
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Winemaker Notes
This wine is ready to enjoy upon release but can be cellared for up to two years if rounder, more developed characters are desired. Designed to complement a wide range of cuisines this wine will excel in partnership with fresh goats cheeses and anything involving tomatoes, pears, and olives.
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Wine & Spirits
This wine has a kiss of salinity, not unlike the residual salt on your lips after a dip in the ocean. Its herbal notes of English peas, sweet pea shoots and mint meld with citrus scents of lime blossom and lime pulp. Frisky and light, this wine is ready to drink as soon as it’s popped, and stays fresh for days.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: New Sauvignon Blancs are always on the front burner on my annual tasting plans, and with each passing year, the category gets stronger and even more popular with my pals in the wine business. The 2016 Huntaway Reserve Sauvignon Blanc shows excellent richness from start to finish. TASTING NOTES: This wine is active, bright, and long. Its aromas and flavors of grapefruit peel, tropical fruit, and dried herbs should make it a beautiful match with arugula, cherry tomatoes, and fresh goat cheese. (Tasted: July 18, 2018, San Francisco, CA)
Other Vintages
2014-
Wine &
Spirits
Named after the native New Zealand sheepdog, Huntaway has distinguished herding and working ability like no other breed. Huntaway Reserve focuses on Marlborough's signature varietal, Sauvignon Blanc. Select vineyard blocks that reflect the distinctive, natural characters in lower Wairau Valley produces a wine with distinct pungency and power.
Capable of a vast array of styles, Sauvignon Blanc is a crisp, refreshing variety that equally reflects both terroir and varietal character. Though it can vary depending on where it is grown, a couple of commonalities always exist—namely, zesty acidity and intense aromatics. This variety is of French provenance. Somm Secret—Along with Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc is a proud parent of Cabernet Sauvignon. That green bell pepper aroma that all three varieties share is no coincidence—it comes from a high concentration of pyrazines (herbaceous aromatic compounds) inherent to each member of the family.
An icon and leading region of New Zealand's distinctive style of Sauvignon blanc, Marlborough has a unique terroir, making it ideal for high quality grape production (of many varieties). Despite some common generalizations, which could be fairly justified given that Marlborough is responsible for 90% of New Zealand's Sauvignon blanc production, the wines from this region are actually anything but homogenous. At the northern tip of New Zealand’s South Island, the vineyards of Marlborough benefit from well-draining, stony soils, a dry, sunny climate and wide temperature fluctuations between day and night, a phenomenon that supports a perfect balance between berry ripeness and acidity.
The region’s king variety, Sauvignon blanc, is beloved for its pungent, aromatic character with notes of exotic tropical fruit, freshly cut grass and green bell pepper along with a refreshing streak of stony minerality. These wines are made in a wide range of styles, and winemakers take advantage of various clones, vineyard sites, fermentation styles, lees-stirring and aging regimens to differentiate their bottlings, one from one another.
Also produced successfully here are fruit-forward Pinot noirs (especially where soils are clay-rich), elegant Riesling, Pinot gris and Gewürztraminer.