Sacred Hill Sauvignon Blanc 2018
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The wine displays complex aromas of passionfruit, white-fleshed peach, lemon juice, zest, and gooseberry which enhances the minerality. There is an immediate fleshy impact carrying through with a good mid-palate texture. The wine finishes with ripe acidity bringing lemon zest and gooseberry flavors, along with a hint of stonefruit.
Pairs well with fresh shellfish.
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Wine Enthusiast
In an ocean of everyday Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, this stands out for it’s ability to strike balance regarding flavor (nicely ripe fruitveg-spice) and mouthfeel (texture-acidity-length). Gooseberry, stone fruit (as it warms in glass) and snow pea notes mesh with white spice and a salty character. Bright, slippery and pithy, juicy fruit and spice flow through to a relatively lengthy finish. Enough structure here to work with food. DC Flynt MW Selections. Best Buy
Other Vintages
2014-
Wilfred
Wong
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.