Wine of the Week
Giesen Wines Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc & McLaren Vale Kangarilla Road Chardonnay 2012
Giesen Wines
Marlborough
Sauvignon Blanc
Amongst their best ever Sauvignon Blancs from Giesen Wines of New Zealand was made from fruit sourced from around 40 vineyards. This wine is making its mark with Sauvignon Blanc aficionados from around the world, from United Kingdom to China to Australia.
By sourcing the grapes from the forty vineyards but all located within the Wairau Valley, winemaker Andrew Blake claimed this enabled his team to develop a wine with a broad flavour range and a multi-dimensional aroma. He describes its spectrum as being from tropical and vibrant to green, crisp and elegant.
"This is a truly Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc," Andrew said. "Grapefruit and gooseberry characters mix with tomato and blackcurrant leaf on the nose, leading to a vibrant and fruit weighted palate, all balanced by a clean and crisp acidity."
The challenge is to decide the final blend when you consider the grapes come from such a range of vineyards. To achieve it Blake said, "We fermented the juice from each in cool temperatures using a range of aromatic and complex yeast strains," and, "Then the team evaluated the quality of the individual tanks and decided on the final blends and bottling."
At just $14.99 a bottle this crisp fresh tasting wine with a simple combination of some crusty warm baguettes and a plate of garlicked prawns.
A Glass For Lunch:
Kangarilla Road winery located in McLaren Vale in the Adelaide Hills just released, for the first time, a certified "A" grade organic Chardonnay. Because of the lengthy processes to obtain organic certification it has taken four years to bring the wine to market.
This premier vintage comes from fruits of the bountiful 2012 harvest from the Edgehill vineyard, and was fully reserved for organic wine making. Winemaker Kevin O'Brien stated that his desire was to create a wine that advance McLaren Vale and particularly the outstanding Chardonnay characteristics that the bio-dynamically and organically grown fruit can display.
This wine, at $22 a bottle, can be enjoyed with a BBQ chicken served on a garlic mash.
Need a drink? We're archived on vintnews.com
