Friday, January 23, 2009

Isabel Sauvignon Blanc

I don't usually drink a lot of Sauvignon Blanc, but there is certainly a place for it in this hot weather.  Many Sauvignon Blancs are pretty average, so what characteristics does a good one have? 

As I ventured into the cellar, I found this 2005 Isabel Sauvignon Blanc. I was a bit worried about the age, as you are supposed to drink these straight away, more about this in a minute.

The Isabel has three features I like: the gooseberry flavour is ripe, not green. The wine tingles along the tongue to the back palate, and is not sharp. It has good length and the acidity is there, but not overwhelming everything else.

I only noticed a hint of mellowing in this wine, but it was still perfectly fresh. This wine has good structure and handles a bit of age very well.

2 comments:

Jesse Lewis said...

I've always wondered why SBs don't age well past a couple of years, whereas semillons and rieslings do. I thought the acid was the main reason why white wines could age, and SBs have acid-a-plenty...

Alontin said...

I think it is a question of when to best drink a wine. One of the key features of Sauvignon Blanc is its pungency. This gets lost after a couple of years. I believe Cloudy Bay on occasions does vertical tastings of its Sauvignon Blanc with pretty good results.