The Auswine Forum

Tell me what your favourite Sauvignon Blanc is! It's my favourite variety, and I'm always looking for recommendations.

At the moment, I'm a big fan of Giesen, Oyster Bay, Wicks Estate, Chain of Ponds and Wither Hills in particular.

Can't really put a finger on an 'All-time' fav, but at present the St Claire Wairau Reserve scratches my itch..

Thanks tpang. And I probably should've said 'your current favourite/s' rather than 'all-time favourite'.

2005 Te Mata Cape Crest was probably the standout Sauvignon Blanc for me in the last 12 months.

I find the majority of Australian efforts too ripe/extracted for my liking, although Leabrook Estate, Paracombe & Browns of Padthaway are usually consistently good.

Cheers,
Ian

tpang wrote:Can't really put a finger on an 'All-time' fav, but at present the St Claire Wairau Reserve scratches my itch..

I love the Saint Clair savvies. Do you get Saint Clair's 'Pioneer Block 'wines over there? Love the Block 6.

Another vote for St Clair from me. Also the Groom from the Adelaide Hills is fantastic.

Mulderbosch from South Africa is worth a look at, as are Didier Dagenau's efforts from the Loire.

I would add from Marg's Cape Mentelle and Voyager.
Both have been outstanding lately.

Of the wines available in retail now:

2005 Te Mata Estate Cape Crest (Sophisticated and complex)
2006 St Clair Reserve Wairau (classical)
2006 St Clair Pioneer Block 3 (Weighty and classical)
2006 Cloudy Bay (sophisticated and classical)
2006 Palliser Estate

I love gorgeously clean cut racy Marlborough Sauvignon. In the past Jackson Estate has done good wines, Palliser Estate also from Martinborough, Villa Maria Reserve Wairau, Craggy Range Old Renwick

Sauvignon Blanc is a ever changing beast in the bottle though. What it tasted like a 2 months ago may be not quite as good or a bit better than then!!

If I had to rate my all time favourite it would probably be by a nose the 1996 Cloudy Bay, though the ones listed above are probably some of the best since then.

One of my favourites,is Astrolabe from the Marlborough region.

From a quick tour round Marlborough after Easter ... two left an impression.

Forrest Estate "James Randall" 2006 (pure, schisty, long, texture to die for, opened my eyes to SB again, bought and drank all three bottles in a week).
Cloudy Bay Te Koko 2004 (complex, refined, mouth-filling and needs food).

I was surprised. I am (or was) a SB sceptic but these were both complex and complete wines as was the Te Mata Cape Crest 2005. It's good when you drink wines that simply obliterate your preconceptions ... I need to find a chardonnay or two that will do the same.

Jay

Two very different but equally appealing SBs for me are the Groom's SB 2005 from Adelaide Hills and the NZ barrel fermented Te Mata Cape Crest

It changeth year by year.

This time around it's the 2006 Allan Scott from Marlborough. Tried it over and over again at the NZ wine show here in Adelaide last year. Stood up above all the rest.

Tristram

"Hail ye small sweet courtesies of life, for smooth do ye make the road of it!"

TORB, you haven't responded to this post!?

Enjoying the Summerhouse Sav Blanc from Malborough at the moment.

I liked the Cape Mentelle SB/ Semillon 2005 when I had it last year.

My VFM SB is actually a Frenchie one called Chateau Reynon. I have had about four of the 2004 over the last 12 months, and they go for 1,500yen (A$15) in Japan vs A$23 for a Cape Mentelle SB / Sem 2005 and A$30 for a Cloudy Bay 2006. Chateau Reynon is half the price of a Cloudy Bay, but not half the quality for me, so that is why I will probably get a few more for some (northern) summer mid-week drinking this year.

You guys seem to like your Saint Clair How about voting for us in a Label Competition in Europe.

Saint Clair's Pioneer Block wine label has been selected as one of 10 finalists (from 4260 submitted labels) for the greatest wine label contest of the world "Europe's wine label of the year 2007."

www .pioneerblock. com

Craggy Range Te Muna Rd and Catalina Sounds have been the best two I have tasted, though very different wines. The latter is very much a food wine while the former a zippy Sunday afternoon sipping style.

Michael McNally wrote:Craggy Range Te Muna Rd and Catalina Sounds have been the best two I have tasted, though very different wines. The latter is very much a food wine while the former a zippy Sunday afternoon sipping style.

Agree re Catalina Sounds, was my favourite of the 06's I tried, and stocked.

Hello there, as I mentioned in my intro profile, I am an employee of Domaine Chandon, and therefore Moet Hennessy, so its difficult for me to argue when Cape Mentelle and Cloudy Bay are mentioned. However....
Has anyone tried Stoniers '06 Savvy from down the Mornington Peninsh? I was thoroughly impressed when I visited last year, particularly as I am not a fan of the style!

I tried the Stonier '06 sauvignon blanc at the callar door earlier this year, it is excellent.

One comment I would make is that the temperature of serving has a profound effect on my enjoyment of sauvignon blanc, probably more than any white wine.

The most memorable sauvignon blanc I ever drank was the 1998 Cloudy Bay, it was one of the first as well, as London was still in the grip of chardonnaymania.

Let's not forget the 2006 MUDDY WATER Waipara Sauvignon Blanc
and the 2005 SERESIN Marama Sauvignon Blanc, outstanding stuff.
More here:

http://forum.auswine.com.au/viewtopic.p ... ght=marama

Cheers,
Attila

The most memorable sauvignon blanc I ever drank was the 1998 Cloudy Bay[/list]

hmm i remember the 1998 SB as one of the lesser CB vintages

I think 96 and 97 were the best. 06 also is very classy

We happened across a few bottles of a Cloudy Bay Sav Blanc which we really liked - didn't do on its own though, needed to be had with dinner.
Te Koko, IIRC. Pricey, though worth it! I think we paid $40 a bottle.

My wife wine is Sav Blanc, so we buy a fair amount, for everyday tipple she likes Stoneleigh (inexpensive).

But the best Sav Blanc we tried was

Villa Maria Clifford Bay Sauvignon Blanc

My girlfriend and I mark the wines and do our personnal classement.
There are so many wines, it help a lot to remember what is good…
So, for SB:
The actual leader is: Wither Hills
Then we have: Brown Brother Withlands Vineyard
And in third position: South Island
So many more to try…

Craggy Range 2005 Te Muna Road

Subliminal

2004 Didier Dageneau Silex is pretty smart too

One of my all time favourites is the 'Shaw and Smith' Sav Blanc. A very nice drop for the price (around the $25).

Leigh

mkcoleman wrote:My wife wine is Sav Blanc, so we buy a fair amount, for everyday tipple she likes Stoneleigh (inexpensive).

But the best Sav Blanc we tried was

Villa Maria Clifford Bay Sauvignon Blanc

Stoneleigh was very nice, the first couple of vintages I tried. But it seemed to decline in quality as it became more popular and, I believe, made in larger quantities. "The Ned" from Marlborough wasn't bad.

daz

louise-vin wrote:We happened across a few bottles of a Cloudy Bay Sav Blanc which we really liked - didn't do on its own though, needed to be had with dinner. Te Koko, IIRC. Pricey, though worth it! I think we paid $40 a bottle.

Te Koko is wood-aged for 18 months I believe, unlike the "regular" Cloudy Bay, which will be why it went best with the meal, I suspect. My own favourites to date have been (non-oaky) Cloudy Bay and Hunter.

Bought a bottle of St Clair Block 3 based on this thread - looking forward to giving it a go later this week.

I drink the Babich mainly; it's readily available over here and can be had for about $20 AUD. Special occassions deserve Palliser.

When I'm home on holidays I usually revert to old favourites like Stoneleigh and Mt Riley.

I think the Mt Riley is a consistent star and packs a lot of zing for the price.