Here I am again, unashamedly ranting on about wines that have tickled my fancy. I’m on the NZ theme since I just got back from there, and between work commitments visited some iconic wineries including Matua Valley in West Auckland.  

Matua Valley is the winery credited with launching NZ sauvignon blanc in the 1970s – so it had a lot to live up to when I visited with my friend. The host – Steve – spotted our enthusiasm for knowledge and tasting and produced a bottle of fumé blanc from 1981 (pictured).

As a little background, my friend Glenda and I were intent on buying a red wine to have with our dinner. I wanted to try the iconic SB from Matua Valley but the dinner decision was red. Until we tasted the Paretai Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2009. It really did knock us for six.

As a wine lover it’s moments like this I live for – when a wine really does surprise you and for all the right reasons – and is still a bargain price (just over $20 NZ a bottle). This trailblazing winery still has the edge when it comes to Marlborough sauvignon blanc – a wine many are expressing fatigue over, as more and more producers enter the market. I would never have believed that one of the highlights of my trip would be a Marlborough SB.

So to the wine – a pale straw colour with a faint hint of green – on the nose it wanted to leap out of the glass and fill your senses with rich, generous, fresh grassy aromas, overladen with passionfruit and fresh strawberries – yes! It brought to mind a warm summer’s day sat in a freshly cut meadow, partaking of a summer fruit plate, ripe and plump and soft. Close your eyes and you can almost feel the breeze… 

A deliciously rich and full mouthfeel, long and satisfying, the aromas following through into flavours reminding you of the sauvignon blanc – the grassy tones – but with much more than you ever expected from such a wine. Add in the powerful flavours of rich ripe summer fruits to massage and excite your mouth as the zingy acidity comes through in perfect balance, leaving the flavours long and lingering, leaving you groaning with pleasure and wanting more…

Really – that good? Oh yes and then some.

And to top it off it has a cool label!

Alcohol 13.5% Residual sugar 2.0g/L

www.matua.co.nz

Tigs XX