Crisp and refreshing with a hint of honeydew melon, passionfruit and perhaps freshly cut grass or sun-heated greywacke, sauvignon blanc is a delicious summer wine.
Unfortunately 2008 produced a "savalanche" of sauvignons and some are disappointingly dilute, too acidic and lack fruit weight - you don't want more than a sip.
However, there are many delicious ones, and many of the best as usual will be drinking well over the next 12 or so months.
Although wine sent for review is tasted blind to eliminate preconceptions, all wine tasting and evaluation is subjective.
These are personal recommendations. charmian.smith@odt.co.nz
(about $15)
An easy wine with hints of tropical fruit and mineral, off dry but with a clean, crisp finish.
Good everyday drinking, especially if you find it discounted.
Two stars (out of five)
Average value
(about $20)
A typically pungent savvy, oozing gooseberry, kiwifruit, green capsicum, spice and pears, with a hint of mineral.
Full in the mouth and a nicely balanced, crisp finish. Classic Marlborough sauvignon at its best.
Four stars (out of five)
Good value
(about $21)
Lovely aromas hinting of passionfruit, gooseberries and greywacke, with a hint of spice and mineral, tropical fruit, a bright, mouthfilling intensity and delicious balance.
Four stars (out of five)
Good value
(about$24)
This is one of the finest of the Marlborough sauvignons with funky hints of oil, passionfruit, pear, gooseberries, honeydew melon, all nicely balanced and mouthfilling with a tingly, lingering finish.
Four stars (out of five)
Average value
(about $27)
Saint Clair makes a host of single vineyard wines under its Pioneer Block label, all subtly different and worth investigating.
This intense, assertive wine with hints of passionfruit, herbs and honeydew melon, is from the lower Wairau.
The name refers to the angle of the vines, not the latitude (Waipara is about 43deg south).
Four stars (out of five)
Poor value
(about $24)
At the greener, minerally end of the spectrum , this nicely balanced wine has aromas and flavours suggesting hot dusty gravel mingled with pear, passionfruit, kiwifruit and ripe gooseberry.
Four stars (out of five)
Average value
