Marlboro Sun, 2010 Sauvignon Blanc - Marlboro Valley Wines, New Zealand. Every time I wander into a new wine shop it's as if I'm starting over and I'm completely new to wine. I scan the bottles for something familiar, or something I've seen around but have yet to try, and then I go back and forth - should I try something new, or should I go with something I know I'll like? I admit it, am automatically drawn to the labels that catch my eye, and I'm often skeptical when a wine's label is overly clever, or over the top. It's been my experience, all too many times, that the labels turn out to be the best part of those bottles.
While wandering blindly through a wine shop this past weekend, one bottle caught my eye - one thats label is both clever and simple, and in my mind, brilliant. A newspaper depicting crop circles shaped like a wine glass, and the headline: 2010 Sauvignon Blanc. For $10.99, it was worth a try. I figured that if the wine isn't as creative as the label, then at least I've got a cool label to add to my collection.
The first thing I noticed about this sauvignon blanc was the color - or lack of, perhaps I should say. The wine is almost perfectly clear if not for a faint golden hue, as if light were reflecting from a yellow legal pad, across a white table, and onto a glass of water.
On the nose: A spin of the glass illuminates a light, alfalfa sprout toned blur, as little bits of grass and lime roll over one another, swirling in a kaleidoscopic jumble and falling over highlights of mint and pineapple.
The first sip: Tight and steely with a citric zing, the first sip is reminiscent of candied lemon peel, soft and tart, perking up your senses and tingling on the top of the palate. The juice is sweet and supple, giving off the illusion of young flowers that have yet to fully grow into their own fragrance. As the wine warms, the sensation is no different than the earth warming the ground. A grassiness sprouts in a vaporous spring like manner, slowly intensifying into summer until you realize the lemon-lime shades of grass are like seasons, and really no different than spring to summer, and summer to fall. The mouth feel is so light and delicate that the wine seems almost weightless, and while you're lost in the season of changing flavors, you miss the moment altogether. Like summer, you find that before you know it, your sip has slipped away, and just when you were really beginning to enjoy yourself, too.
The finish: The tang of lime and grassiness give way to a crisp fume of pineapple and mineral, with the two flavors combining, as if to create a memory before it's totally gone. In the end, you're suddenly aware of an acidic echo of what once was, longing for lazy afternoons, and searching for the words to sum up what amounts to being the taste of summer vacation.
Sauvignon blanc is one of those grapes that changes its expression from grassy and crisp, to sweet and tropical depending on the climate where it's being grown. Crisp, dry minerals when grown in the cool, damp air of Bordeaux; or hot tropical pineapple when bathing in the sun of New Zealand.
Paring:
Light, delicate seafood is the perfect match. A mild white fish, or lobster with risotto; steamed crab; oysters on the half shell; prawns drizzled in garlic butter; white clam chowder or fresh steamed muscles in saffron broth. Also, consider this wine on the side of a salad of mixed greens with a light olive oil and sliced almonds, or with sliced red beets and goat cheese. Chilled asparagus with a drizzle lemon hollandaise; gazpacho, or caprese. For desert, consider rice pudding; bananas foster; green tea ice cream; lemon granita (ice); or, as strange as this might sound, a simple bit of chocolate.
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