February Wine Club – New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc

This month at Wine Club we took a look at two New Zealand Blancs; a 2009 3 Stones and a 2009 Cloudy Bay.

"$30 vs. $13, who will win?"

Here is the LCBO information on both wines –


3 STONES SAUVIGNON BLANC 2009


VINTAGES 207159
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 12.95
Wine, White Wine
12.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : XD
Made in: New Zealand, New Zealand
By: Ager Sectus Company Limited
Release Date: Jan 8, 2011

Tasting Note - Light and fragrant, with pretty melon, green herb and lime flavors that keep singing through the finish. Drink now. Score - 89. (Harvey Steiman, www.winespectator.com, March 31, 2010)


CLOUDY BAY SAUVIGNON BLANC 2009


VINTAGES 304469
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 29.95
Wine, White Wine
13.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : XD
Made in: New Zealand, New Zealand
By: Cloudy Bay Vineyards
Release Date: May 19, 2010

Tasting Note - Forget all about typecasting Marlborough sauvignon blanc; this wine, like Greywacke, has outstanding structure, balance, line and length; the variety is almost irrelevant, for this is terroir speaking through the long-practised mouthpiece of the Cloudy Bay winemaking team. Score - 95. (James Halliday, www.winecompanion.com.au, Feb. 14, 2010)

The 3 Stones was the take home bottle for Wine Club members and the Cloudy Bay was purchased as a comparison bottle. I was a touch nervous about this meeting for a couple of reasons; Cloudy Bay has been, in my opinion, the Sauvignon Blanc that all New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs are compared to as it has been consistently review in a positive light for years. So taking a $13 unknown wine up against a $30 benchmark of New Zealand excellence was a little daunting. Especially if it failed as it was the take home bottle (i.e. Wine Club members would be stuck with it). I also had a Wine Club member who would list Cloudy Bay among her favourite wines of all time.

I remember pouring out the 3 Stones and saying to myself ‘smells like a Sauvignon Blanc at least’. Oddly enough the nose on the 3 Stones was more aromatic then the Cloudy Bay. The nose on the 3 Stones and the Cloudy Bay both had gooseberry and cut grass but the 3 Stones also had a yeasty aroma and some pear whereas the Cloudy Bay had a lime aroma to it.

Tasting the 3 Stones, flavours of lime, lemon, and herbs were noticeable. The Cloudy Bay’s flavors were lime and grapefruit. The Cloudy Bay was also smoother tasting and had a longer finish then the 3 Stones. The 3 Stones had more sharpness and bite to it, though this surprisingly wasn’t a bad thing as I actually found it gave this wine more character.

Monica brought in cheeses, Beachroad Kielbasa, roasted red pepper dip and crackers to go with the wine. The cheeses and roasted red pepper dip were stunning with the wine, the Kielbasa was OK with the wine.

Asking for feedback on the wine, a number of Wine Club members were very happy that the 3 Stones was the take home wine, including my Cloudy Bay fan. I found myself enjoying them both equally but if I was to pick between 2 bottles of 3 Stones vs. 1 bottle of Cloudy Bay, I would take the 3 Stones hands down.

The 3 Stones at $13 a bottle is a very good value and I would highly recommend grabbing some before the LCBO runs out of stock.

Cheers!

Mark