Koopmanskloof Percheron Sauvignon Blanc 2010

A South African Sauvignon Blanc today, and a Fairtrade one at that.

I didn't particularly like it. Its main flavour signatures seemed to be pear and wood smoke, neither of which I really like in my wine. The two flavours dominated and then tapered off to a rough finish.

Fairtrade or not, you can do better than this for South African Sauvignon Blanc, especially at this price.

Koopmanskloof

'Percheron' Sauvignon Blanc 2010

Stellenbosch, South Africa

Virgin Wines

£9.99

2/5

San Pedro Castillo de Molina Sauvignon Blanc Reserva 2009

Watershed moment. Good, cheap Chilean Sauvignon Blanc. I'll spare you the cliché tasting notes - we all know what this tastes like. The point is, it costs less than £7 and it isn't grim. In fact, it's good.

Perhaps its origin is a clue. It's from the Elqui Valley, which is among the highest (and therefore coolest) of Chile's vineyards. I am a big fan of Syrah from this region, and it's basically the reason I took a chance on this wine.

So, I encourage you to give this a try while it's on offer. This is good competition for Marlborough, New Zealand wines.

San Pedro

Castillo de Molina Sauvignon Blanc Reserva 2009

Elqui Valley, Chile

Majestic

£7.99 (£6.39 when you buy 2 or more)

3.5/5

Southbank Estate Sauvignon Blanc Rosé 2009

If you read my rant yesterday about the available of good rosé, you would have noticed that I bought a few wines at my local Majestic. This interesting example was one of them.

I had picked out 6 wines at this point, four from Spain and two from France. Then I looked over at the tasting table and noticed they had a couple of rosés there. One of them was this Sauvignon Blanc rosé from Marlborough. I gave it a try and was impressed, so I promptly put back my two bottles of Torres Vina Sol rosé (I've actually never tried it) and replaced them with these.

It tastes very much like a Sauvignon Blanc, but it has a little Syrah mixed in which gives it a pink colour but also contributes a red-fruit flavour essential to rosé wine. It's a winning combination, and one I'll look out for in the future.

Southbank Estate

Sauvignon Blanc Rosé 2009

Marlborough, New Zealand

Majestic

£7.49 (£5.99 when you buy 2 or more)

3/5

Grandissime 'Grande Reserve' Bergerac Blanc 2009

Bergerac is a French wine region not too far from Bordeaux, and it produces wines from the same grape varieties. I'm not too experienced with it, but I suspect it may be a source of good-value wines that may have similar characteristics to the wines of Bordeaux.

This one for example (I'll ignore the half-price thing for now) is a perfectly acceptable white wine for a fiver. Very similar to a white Bordeaux (Sauvignon Blanc/Semillion blend), it's crisp, clean and light.

There is a red on offer as well, and I bought a bottle but have yet to try it. A friend of mine who has though keeps going back and buying more.

Grandissime

Grande Reserve Bergerac 2009

AOC Bergerac, South West France

Sainsbury's

£4.99 (£9.99)

3/5

Maycas del Limari Sauvignon Blanc 2007

Encouraged by tasting the Maycas del Limari Syrah recently, I decided to try their Sauvignon Blanc, also on offer at Sainsbury's.

Unfortunately it doesn't really measure up to the Syrah, although I wonder if it's just too old. It's a 2007, and I think Sauvignon Blanc is one of those wines best drunk young. It still has zippy acidity, but not much fruit. It has some varietal tomato-leaf character, and is thankfully devoid of that foul lingering rotten vegetable taste that some Chilean Sauvignon Blancs have.

I wouldn't buy it again. However, if a newer vintage came along at the same price I would try it, but that's now just running on the currency of the excellent Syrah.

Concha y Toro

Maycas del Limari Sauvignon Blanc 2007

Limari Valley, Chile

Sainsbury's

£6.74 (£8.99)

2.5/5

Sacred Hill Sauvignon Blanc 2008

I'm trying some supermarket Sauvignon Blanc lately. I've missed it to be honest, after avoiding it for a good year or so. I like the versatility and zestiness of it - it makes a great aperitif, and is a good match for salady/veggy type food.

I know nothing about Sacred Hill - except that two other wines of theirs (a Gimblett Gravels Syrah and a Chardonnay) are placed in the 'fine wine' section of my local Sainsbury's. The prices are still low (under £10), but someone must think they're fancy.

This is 1/3 off at the moment (£6.65 from £9.99), and I think it's pretty good. Good zesty acidity and fruit. Would I pay a tenner for it? No way. There has been some concern recently about the de-valuing of Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc, but I confess I don't lose any sleep over it. I like it, but I don't think stuff like this is worth £10 a bottle. The supermarket stuff is all starting to taste the same to me. It's a simple wine, and if I'm going to pay £10 and over I expect depth and complexity, which is something this doesn't have.

Sacred Hill

Sauvignon Blanc 2008

Marlborough, New Zealand

Sainsbury's

£6.65 (£9.99)

3/5

Montana Reserve Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2009

I felt a like a Sauvignon Blanc last night to go with my chef's salad. It's been ages since I've had one, and I was looking for something that would be cheap but good. Montana is pretty reliable, and this one is 33% off at Sainsbury's.

This is also my first taste of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc from the 2009 vintage, which I have been curious about. 2008 suffered from overcropping, and a resultant flooding of the market with cheap (and sometimes dilute) wine. I was interested to see if anything was done in 2009 to avoid this issue.

The Montana website says 'A lot of work was carried out in the vineyard to control the quantity of grapes at harvest and the result has been fruit with excellent levels of concentration.' So I guess measures were taken to avoid overcropping, but did it make any difference?

The short answer is I don't really know (useful I know). I have been avoiding Sauvignon Blanc for some reason, I think because I was into it a couple of years ago, and have just been concentrating on other white varieties (chiefly Riesling). Basically I don't have much of a reference point to compare this 2009 wine to.

Considering the wine was from the 'reserve' range, which is described as 'super-premium' by Montana, I was expecting a bit more in terms of concentration. I enjoyed it overall however, and I think it was good for £6.

Montana

Reserve Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2009

Malborough, New Zealand

Sainsbury's

£6.09 (£9.14)

3/5

Vavasour "The Reach" Sauvignon Blanc 2008

This Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc has been appearing in the odd newspaper column recently, and now that it's on offer at Tesco I thought I'd give it a try.

It's pretty good. It has a clean, melony nose and a crisp, tart, restrained palate. Not too over the top with the gooseberries like Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc can be, and keenly priced (at the moment). I got this in Tesco for £5.69. I can't remember the full price, but it was around £8. Good stuff. We need a few bottles of Sauvignon Blanc on hand, so I think I'll stock up with this.

Vavasour

"The Reach" Sauvignon Blanc 2008

Marlborough, New Zealand

Tesco

£5.69 (~£8)

3.5/5

Dourthe No. 1 Bordeaux Blanc 2007

Fancy a Sauvignon Blanc but without the high prices of the Loire, the grimness of Chile (at least the lower priced ones), or the exaggerated cat's pee and gooseberries of New Zealand?  Then look no further, as you can get just that from Bordeaux, of all places.

Under £6 (on offer) and does everything you ask of it.  Do yourself a favour and drink more white Bordeaux.

Dourthe

No. 1 Bordeaux Blanc

Bordeaux, France

Waitrose

< £6

3/5

Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Malborough Sauvignon Blanc 2008

It's coming up on summer, and that means white wine season.  It's also the start of asparagus season, which means Sauvignon Blanc.

We like Sauvignon Blanc in our house, and it may even be possible we've drank a bit too much of it in previous years, so our intake has dropped somewhat.  Prices are going up as well, with decent brands now going for around the £8 mark.

For my first Sauvignon Blanc of the summer, I opted for this.  Why, I'm not really sure - I guess I have some confidence in Sainsbury's Taste the Difference range.  I remember having tried it before, and liking it, so why not?

I actually found it to be a bit average.  It has the fresh, distinctive flavours of Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc and a decent zing from the acidity but nothing else really stands out.  I expect more for £8. I'll give it a 3 but I think it's a bit overpriced.  However that may be down to the poor economy, exchange rates, etc.

I'm actually keen to try some of the more upmarket single vineyard wines coming out as the lower price point wines are starting to bore me a bit. Anyone have any decent recommendations?

Sainsbury's

Taste the Difference Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2008

Marlborough, New Zealand

£7.99

3/5

Porta Winemaker Reserva Sauvignon Blanc 2008

I needed a couple of white wines for Easter plonk and ended up choosing this.  Chile isn't my favourite place for Sauvignon Blanc, but something made me think that Porta was a decent producer so I thought I'd give it a try, and perhaps be pleasantly surprised.

I wasn't.  I thought this wine was pretty bad.  It completely lacks all the characteristics of a good Sauvignon Blanc - the gooseberry fruit, the grassiness, and the slightly weighty character that the good ones have.   All this has is a vague tropical fruit like flavour (in my opinion the hallmark of a dull white - they need more than that) and I actually struggled to drink it, especially as it warmed up in the glass.

I think it was some kind of special purchase from Sainsbury's.  I don't see it on their website, and it's not listed on the Porta website.  I *think* it's made with grapes grown in the Bio-Bio Valley, but that's a guess using what little information is available on Porta's website.

Porta

Winemaker Sauvignon Blanc 2008

Chile

Sainsbury's

£4.99

2/5

Boekenhoutskloof Porcupine Ridge Sauvignon Blanc 2008

I've been investigating South African wines recently. I thought this Sauvignon Blanc would be a good bet, because I really enjoyed the Syrah from the same range.

However, I didn't like this wine. It's lacking in intensity and depth, and it possesses an unpleasant, vegetal character and has a slightly bitter finish.

I see from the producer's website that 2008 was a difficult harvest with lots of rain, and perhaps that explains this wine's poor character. South Africa can definitely do better than this, and I imagine this winery can as well.

Boekenhoutskloof
Porcupine Ridge Sauvignon Blanc 2008
Franschhoek, South Africa
Waitrose
£5.24 (£6.99)
2/5

St Hallett Poacher's Blend 2007

This is a really good wine. I was planning to make a recipe from my Wagamama cookbook, and for some reason I thought an Australian Semillion would go nicely with it. I instructed our (Australian) guest to pick one up on the way over, and he came up with St Hallett Poacher's Blend.

It's a winner. It's blend of Semillion, Sauvignon Blanc and (?!) Riesling. You really can detect all 3 grapes in this blend, whether in the nose or the palate. It has zestiness, a rich, full mouthfeel with a lingering finish, and a nice, aromatic quality to it. It matched the food perfectly (Yaki Soba made with ramen noodles instead of soba), and it disappeared so quickly during the meal that I didn't really get a chance to try it on its own after. Brilliant.

St Hallett
Poacher's Blend 2007
Barossa Valley, Australia
Waitrose
£7.99
4/5

Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Chilean Sauvignon Blanc 2008

I'll keep this one short. I wasn't particularly impressed with this. It was on offer for £3.49, and I figured why not...we were having some guests over and figured we may need some plonk to serve after the "nice" wine (cough).

I've used this description before, but it's got that cheap sugary aftertaste to it, and not a particularly good Sauvignon Blanc character. I've had much worse, but I'm used to better stuff than this, because Sauvignon Blanc is pretty much a mainstay in our house during the summer.

I don't think I've ever had a Sauvignon Blanc from Chile that I've really enjoyed that much. If you want a good Sauvignon Blanc, I'd look to Bordeaux, Loire Valley, New Zealand and South Africa before Chile.

Sainsbury's
Taste the Difference Sauvignon Blanc 2008
Casablanca Valley, Chile
£3.49 (£6.99)
2/5

Roc Saint Vincent Bordeaux Sauvignon 2007

This wine made an appearance at Sainsbury's holiday half-price bonanza. It's actually a pretty good wine, closer to a Kiwi-style Sauvignon Blanc than say a Loire Valley one. Very intense nose and flavour, I wouldn't have guessed it's a Bordeaux.

I'm a bit of a fan of white Bordeaux, probably partly because it's overshadowed by its red big brother. It also offers (sometimes) good value on dry Sauvignon/Semillion blends (ever wondered where the Aussies got the idea for that blend?). If you're tired of the in your face New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs, you should be able to get some good wines from Bordeaux for under a tenner.

Roc Saint Vincent
Bordeaux Sauvignon 2007
Sainsbury's
£4.99 (£9.99)
3/5