January 17, 2006

South African Sauvignon Blanc



Anyone for Crisp and Affordable?


A recent New York Times article called Steenberg one of the best wine values out there. "Crisp, fresh, zesty and balanced, with unexpected depth," cooed the NYT. It's a good wine. And at about $8 a bottle, a great bargain. For just a little more Mulderbosch, Neil Ellis or Wine Spectator faves Buitenverwachting and Southern Right are even better. The point is they're almost all good, with varying degrees of crispness, grassiness, a touch of melon, green apple, or grapefruit here and there. Serve chilled.

Good South African Sauvignon Blancs, some with bigger price tags (nope, not in alphabetical order):
Anura -- from Paarl. Clean, crisp. Everything you want it to be
Buitenverwachting -- Dry but not sour, plus a name that's fun to say
Buitenverwachting second label Beyond -- Crisp with grapefruit nose and taste -- WS 88 pts
Neil Ellis -- Clean, elegant and refreshing
Jordan -- Lovely clean regular cab, and a slightly more gooseberry and oak Outlier sauv blanc.
Steenberg -- Would the NYT lie to you? Good, but on the boring, mass-produced tasting side.
Thelema -- Aromatic and so friendly it almost hugs you
Warwick -- Goosebery-wrapped density
Fairview -- Clean, steely
Sauvignon Republic -- Wth a name like that, right? Stellenbosch and Russian River. Fun taste test.
Simonsig -- Soft, tropical fruit, minerality with mysteriously soft mouthfeel
Southern Right -- WSJ and Wine Spectator winner from the Western Cape. Look for the whale on the label.
Springfield -- Crisp, melony (buy it)
Stony Brook -- If you can get it

A couple to avoid:
Fairvalley -- or rather mediocrewine
Amani -- can't trust a bottle with an embossed square coin
Indaba -- as in the song, "Indaba is doo doo, Indaba is doo doo"

Where:
In New York, try 67 Wines for Fairview, Neil Ellis and other SA favorites

More:
Wine Mag, South Africa's Wine Magazine is well written and trustworthy

Believe it or not:
“Cat pee” is in fact a complimentary tasting note, associated with some of the best sauvignon blanc bottlings. It’s a way of pointing out herbaceousness in the wine. Yes, we draw the line at using number two to describe wine.

Stellenbosh Dreaming:
Check out Forbes trip advisory; eat at Le Quartier Français in Franshoek and Cuvee Restaurant on the Simonsig estate.

More here:
Read Anthony's ArtInfo.com article.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't forget the Americans: Hanna, Freemark Abbey, Cakebread, J. Rochioli, Cliff Lede...

More here:
http://www.wineandspiritsmagazine.com/topten/topten_august06.html

Unknown said...

Looking for Hanna? Try winelegend.com.