When the boat c= omes in…

We’ve just taken delivery of sauvignon blanc and merlot from Rayun in Chile’s Central Valley. These wines are superb everyday drinking at just $19.50/bottle. Not to be missed, and in our deli now.

New Zealand Sau= vignon Blanc

In the last couple of weeks I’ve had occa= sion to try quite a few of these – all in the course of duty of course (erhem…) including quite a number from the 2010 vintage. I reached three conclusions= :

Find the style(s) you like

You get what you pay for =

2010 was a stonkingly good vintage

The style of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc has changed considerably since I started buying the stuff (commercially) 14 years ago. At that time the predominant (good) characteristics were the wine’s crisp refreshing gooseberry flavours and of course its abundant perfume. Over time a riper and more tropical-fruit driv= en style evolved. And over more recent years, the forward-fruit approach has abandoned by some in favour of producing a more food-friendly, rounded and complex wine, through the use of oak, and Semillon in particular, with litt= le if any residual sugar.

Today just about every sty= le is available, and a lot of it is a matter of taste. Beyond fruit flavours s= uch as gooseberry, citrus, guava, passionfruit, mango, melon, even pineapple, expect to find capsicum, tomato leaf, sweaty armpits, cat’s pee, asparagus.= And minerality. Please, minerality.

Whether you like your “Sav= vy” clean or funky, rich & ripe or dry and austere, there is a very clear l= ink between price and quality in terms of length, flavour concentration, and complexity. By all means enjoy a c= heap quaffing SB – whatever is on “special” at Cold Storage for example – but do= n’t imagine that this will linger in your memory in the way that Villa Maria Ce= llar Selection or Reserve wines, Wither Hills, or Palliser do. VM is renowned in Marlborough for running the risk of harvesting late, in order to capture th= ose lovely ripe summery fruit flavours. Palliser also tend to this style, possi= bly because of the Martinborough climate as well as winemaker Alan Johnson’s st= yle. Both Wither Hills and The Ned probably lean to a greener style. And soon we will have a new wine from Brent Marris (of the Ned) in his Kings’ Series wi= nes. VM But more of that next month.

Villa Maria Tasting

Every year Ian Clark, long-standing marke= ting and export guru at Villa, organizes a tasting for some of the wine press. T= his really stems from letting Michael Cooper taste for his annual book, but oth= ers now gather for this event. And I was luck enough to be invited to join the lunch and the tasting. There were more wines to taste than I can possibly do justice to here but here are some highlights from the whites.

Marlborough enjoyed a love= ly Indian Summer which compensated for a relatively cool summer to produce outstanding flavours – with a lot of passionfruit for (late-harvesting) Vil= la’s Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc. The Cellar Selection is tighter with more lime, and a more focused concentrated wine. More complexity too – with some nettl= e and capsicum. I tasted Reserve or Sing= le Vineyard SBs from Clifford Bay, Wairau Valley, Graham, Taylors’ Pass and Southern Clays. Wairau Valley ws my favourite but. I also very much liked t= he Single Vineyard Graham which had more savoury characters and would in my opinion be the best food wine of these.

I am a bit of a Viognier f= an and watch NZ’s efforts with this varietal with interest. VM has done really well with this varietal – I liked both the Private Bin which is from the “E= ast Coast” and the Cellar Selection. The former was round and rich with lovely peach flavours, and the CS creamier, with more mouthfeel, weight and comple= xity – nutmeg and honeysuckle with apricot. A nice break from the binary decision between aromatics and Chardonnay. And really good for Asian food.

I also tasted a first – th= e CS Arneis from Hawkes Bay. OK I wouldn’t know an Arneis if it jumped out and b= it me, but this had nice green apple flavours, and I’ll be on the lookout for = more examples of this Italian grape variety in the future. A good dry and less fruit-driven alternative to SB with seafood.

Chardonnay, chardonnay, chardonnay. Fun to taste from Marlborough, Auckland (yes!), Hawkes’ Bay, an= d of course I’m very familiar with Otago in the form of Felton Road, Pegasus Bay= from Canterbury and Palliser from Martinborough. There seem to be pronounced regional characteristics for Chardonnay in NZ. The fruit gets brighter and = more forward as you head South. Most popular is probably Marlboough Chardy, but personally I love the grapefruit, fig and melon of the North Island (especi= ally Hawkes Bay) in preference to the more stonefruit and lime characters of the South. In this tasting my faves were the Hawkes Bay Reserve Chardonnay and = the Keltern Single Vineyard from 09.

All the Pinots I tasted fr= om 09 were good - with a tendency towards dark berry and black cherry flavours= . My stand-out for a special occasion would be the Single Vineyard Seddon which = had a superbly silky mouthfeel,with layers of flavour – fruit, violets, forest = floor. Absolutely Delish.

Charlotte Read from Villa will be here in mid-October. I’ll give details of an event around the weekend of 16/17^=
th October next time.

Ata Rangi and Shadowfax are our wineries = of the month in September – here’s a reminder of the special pricing on their superb wines. Both got accolades in the Wine Magazine I read on the way home this weekend – I will post the articles on the noticeboard in the Deli.

Ata Rangi Pinot Noir 08

Normal Retail Price $79 - SPECIAL PRICE $69/bottle

Ata Rangi Craighall Chardonnay 08<= /b>.&= nbsp;

Normal Retail Price $59.50 - SPECIAL PRICE $48/bottle

Ata Rangi Crimson Pinot Noir 08

Normal Retail Price $40.50 – SPECIAL PRICE $32.50/bottle

Ata Rangi Crimson Pinot Noir 08 – Half Bottles 375ml

Normal Retail Price $23 – SPECIAL PRICE $19/half bottle

Shadowfax Chardonnay

Normal price $44.50/bottle – SPECIAL PRICE $36/bottle

Shadowfax Landscape Shiraz 05<= span lang=3DEN-US style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>

Normal retail price $45 - SPECIAL PRICE $36/bottle

These prices st= rictly while stocks last. Free delivery f= or all orders of one case (12 bottles) or more.

HOW TO ORDER

call 6464 9909 and ask for Audrey or Estee

or drop by our Deli & Wine Café in VivoCity (Tel 6463 5296)

em= ail us on o= rders@thecellardoor.com.sg

vi= sit our website w= ww.thecellardoor.com.sg&n= bsp;