Wineguider wine reviews

Today we look at a 2011 sauvignon blanc from New Zealand’s Marlborough region which I bought for $25.

Have you ever driven an Audi A6?  I have, once.  It’s a great car — I mean truly great, in the most grand sense of the word — but in such a calm way.  Its greatness kind of creeps up on you, over time.  This is what I get from the 2011 Cloudy Bay sauvignon blanc.

It has the citrus (lime) and gorgeous melon flavors you expect from a NZ sauvignon blanc, with maybe a tad more melon than usual, but a minimum of the grassy overtone that turns so many people off.  It’s subtle.  Unlike cheaper sauvignon blancs from New Zealand (say, the brilliantly priced $8 Cupcake), its tartness does not slap you in the face.  The 13.5% alcohol content will make an impression, but what really propels Cloudy Bay’s worth above $20 for me is the quietly spicy, dry minerality.  It drives me CRAZY, I tell you.

I want more of this wine, stat (it is 10:12 a.m. on a Tuesday).  But it was not love at first sip.  Cloudy Bay takes its time.  My only complaint is the price.  $25 is pushing it for this wine.  Maybe they are a bit full of themselves — their website says that it has “underlying notes of blackcurrant leaf and tomato plant spice.”   What-EVerrrr.

Cloudy Bay goes for as little as $20 in some stores (a definite buy) and as high as $30 elsewhere, which for me is a deal-breaker, even for this fine juice.

Recommended.