Marlborough, New Zealand
Nose: Lemon, Lime, Grapefruit, Lemon Pith, Lemon-Lime Soda
Palate: Lemon-Lime Soda, Jalapeno, Lemon, Lime, Grapefruit Pith
Fermentation: Stainless Steel, short lees contact
The holiday season is a perfect time to try wines that friends and family bring to dinner parties. Often these wines are purchased at grocery stores or corner markets on their way to the gatherings. Such was the case with the 2014 Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc that I tasted last week.
Initially the nose on this wine was very expressive of fresh citrus fruit and pith. Then as the wine started to reach room temperature it showed more of a lemon-lime soda expression, which was also very noticeable on my palate. I had to really search for other aromas at this point, because once I was hit with the "Sprite soda" notes, it was difficult for me see beyond this characteristic. There were notes of grapefruit and lemon pith on the nose, but it did lack the standard "grassy" notes that most people describe smelling in New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs.
On the palate the "Sprite soda" tones were very pronounced as the wine started to approach room temperature. I should mention that many people will not drink white wines at room temperature and therefore may not notice some of the same qualities mentioned here. However when evaluating wines for their full expressions, its best to allow all the wines to reach room temperature, but I digress.... I was pleasantly surprised to find a nice jalapeno note on the palate of this wine, something that I always enjoy in sauvignon blancs when matched with their citrus components. The grapefruit pith characteristics were also nice.
I was a bit perplexed by the mouth-feel of the wine, as it had much more weight than I had expected. It was more medium-bodied than I typically find with New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs. I went the Oyster Bay's website to see if I could find more details about the wine production methods, and only came up with a couple of possibilities: 1) The 2014 vintage was warmer and drier than their average years, which could have allowed their grapes to become more ripe than normal. 2) The vinification notes did not mention any grape varietals for this wine. Although Sauvignon Blanc is on the label, there could be up to 15% of other grape varietals blended into the wine, and the wine could still be listed as single varietal on the label. I would say that some of the weight comes from very ripe grapes, but I think most of it comes from other varietals blended in. Sure the website stated, "short lees contact" but I couldn't find any hints of yeast notes in the wine and the round, weighted mouth-feel of this wine.
Lastly this acidity of this wine was less than enjoyable for me, instead of being striking and racy, it was unpleasantly harsh. I believe this is from the wine being acidified at the winery in an attempt to balance the possible over-ripeness of the juice. Again, most people are not going to drink white wines at room temperature, so don't consider this attribute as a fatal flaw, just make sure you serve this wine cold and most people will not even notice the harsh acidity.
Price to quality wise, I would give this wine a C and this is strictly speaking on the retail price of this wine verses the quality of wine for its varietal(s). This aspect of evaluation does not take into consideration that this wine had to come all the way from New Zealand to Portland, Maine before it was poured into my glass. Its not fair to compare a $12 NZ Sauvignon Blanc to a $12 French Sauvignon Blanc, or a $12 Spanish Sauvignon Blanc when living on the east coast of the United States. It simply costs so much more money to bring a wine from NZ to the east coast, than it does to bring one from Europe to the east coast. Considering this, I would personally prefer to drink a $12 Bordeaux Blanc, or a $12 Touraine Sauvignon Blanc, or $12 Rueda Sauvignon Blanc.
As for aging this wine...don't! In fact don't ever think about aging Sauvignon Blancs unless they blended with semillon and are from Sauternes or Lupiac France.
Galen's Score: 85 points
Retail Cost: $12
Distributed by: National Distributors
** Ok, so I totally over analysed a $12 bottle of wine, but I got wrapped up in the moment of picking out the flaws. Im not saying this wine is bad or undrinkable. It was just not what I expect from a NZ sauv blanc, which is a little unfair to say about a $12 NZ sauv blanc. That's like looking for sports car performance with econo-car pricing.
The holiday season is a perfect time to try wines that friends and family bring to dinner parties. Often these wines are purchased at grocery stores or corner markets on their way to the gatherings. Such was the case with the 2014 Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc that I tasted last week.
Initially the nose on this wine was very expressive of fresh citrus fruit and pith. Then as the wine started to reach room temperature it showed more of a lemon-lime soda expression, which was also very noticeable on my palate. I had to really search for other aromas at this point, because once I was hit with the "Sprite soda" notes, it was difficult for me see beyond this characteristic. There were notes of grapefruit and lemon pith on the nose, but it did lack the standard "grassy" notes that most people describe smelling in New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs.
On the palate the "Sprite soda" tones were very pronounced as the wine started to approach room temperature. I should mention that many people will not drink white wines at room temperature and therefore may not notice some of the same qualities mentioned here. However when evaluating wines for their full expressions, its best to allow all the wines to reach room temperature, but I digress.... I was pleasantly surprised to find a nice jalapeno note on the palate of this wine, something that I always enjoy in sauvignon blancs when matched with their citrus components. The grapefruit pith characteristics were also nice.
I was a bit perplexed by the mouth-feel of the wine, as it had much more weight than I had expected. It was more medium-bodied than I typically find with New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs. I went the Oyster Bay's website to see if I could find more details about the wine production methods, and only came up with a couple of possibilities: 1) The 2014 vintage was warmer and drier than their average years, which could have allowed their grapes to become more ripe than normal. 2) The vinification notes did not mention any grape varietals for this wine. Although Sauvignon Blanc is on the label, there could be up to 15% of other grape varietals blended into the wine, and the wine could still be listed as single varietal on the label. I would say that some of the weight comes from very ripe grapes, but I think most of it comes from other varietals blended in. Sure the website stated, "short lees contact" but I couldn't find any hints of yeast notes in the wine and the round, weighted mouth-feel of this wine.
Lastly this acidity of this wine was less than enjoyable for me, instead of being striking and racy, it was unpleasantly harsh. I believe this is from the wine being acidified at the winery in an attempt to balance the possible over-ripeness of the juice. Again, most people are not going to drink white wines at room temperature, so don't consider this attribute as a fatal flaw, just make sure you serve this wine cold and most people will not even notice the harsh acidity.
Price to quality wise, I would give this wine a C and this is strictly speaking on the retail price of this wine verses the quality of wine for its varietal(s). This aspect of evaluation does not take into consideration that this wine had to come all the way from New Zealand to Portland, Maine before it was poured into my glass. Its not fair to compare a $12 NZ Sauvignon Blanc to a $12 French Sauvignon Blanc, or a $12 Spanish Sauvignon Blanc when living on the east coast of the United States. It simply costs so much more money to bring a wine from NZ to the east coast, than it does to bring one from Europe to the east coast. Considering this, I would personally prefer to drink a $12 Bordeaux Blanc, or a $12 Touraine Sauvignon Blanc, or $12 Rueda Sauvignon Blanc.
As for aging this wine...don't! In fact don't ever think about aging Sauvignon Blancs unless they blended with semillon and are from Sauternes or Lupiac France.
Galen's Score: 85 points
Retail Cost: $12
Distributed by: National Distributors
** Ok, so I totally over analysed a $12 bottle of wine, but I got wrapped up in the moment of picking out the flaws. Im not saying this wine is bad or undrinkable. It was just not what I expect from a NZ sauv blanc, which is a little unfair to say about a $12 NZ sauv blanc. That's like looking for sports car performance with econo-car pricing.
