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This Week's Must-Try Wines from Vinous

Welcome to this week's Must-Try Wines from Vinous! Each week we compile a list of wines from the Vinous database that you need to add to your wine wish list. With all the various regions, producers, and grapes, no week will be the same! All of the wines listed in this feature are available for purchase on Banquet . This week's must-try wines are from Rebecca Gibb MW’s article, Desperately Seeking Sauvignon . Enjoy an excerpt from his article and reviews below! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “A small 2021 vintage sent international wine buyers scrabbling to secure their New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc supply, but what the wines lack in quantity, they’ve made up for in quality, while Chardonnay continues to make a strong case as New Zealand’s finest white variety.” --Rebecca Gibb MW, Desperately Seeking Sauvignon, March 2022 1. 2020 Amisfield Sauvignon Blanc 2. 2021 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 3. 2019 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc Te Koko 4. 2017 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 5. 2021 Craggy Range Sauvignon Blanc Te Muna Road Vineyard – Martinborough 6. 2021 Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc 7. 2020 Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc Single Vineyard Taylors Pass 8. 2021 Whitehaven Sauvignon Blanc Whitehaven

Whitehaven

Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2021

Delectable Wine
8.8

The 2021 Sauvignon Blanc Whitehaven has plentiful power and drive in its bright and light body. With its freshly cut grass and passionfruit-like fruit, it's a taste of summer. All you need is Wimbledon. There's more intensity than usual thanks to the season's naturally small crop, concentrating the fruit and packing a punch. (Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous, March 2022)
 — 3 years ago

Craggy Range

Te Muna Road Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2021

Delectable Wine
9.1

The pungent, plush 2021 Sauvignon Blanc Te Muna Road Vineyard (Martinborough) offers up layers of both grassy and elderflower flavors in combination with a tropical fruit salad. It's sweetly fruited and ripe, presenting a rich mouthful of Sauvignon-ness. A small portion of barrel-fermented fruit has rounded the edges, and the fragrant finish is fresh yet ripe. A little more length would be welcome; this may have something to do with the addition of younger vines from new plantings. Drink in youth for its fruity freshness. (Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous, March 2022)
 — 3 years ago

Amisfield

Central Otago Sauvignon Blanc 2020

Delectable Wine
9.0

Amisfield produces a rather different expression from the NZ stereotype in its 2020 Sauvignon Blanc. This Central Otago Sauvignon is reminiscent of black currant cheesecake and lemon curd. Dry, light-bodied and tangy with a light spritz, it’s a flavorsome style best enjoyed young for its fruity richness. (Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous, March 2022)
 — 3 years ago

Villa Maria

Taylors Pass Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2020

Delectable Wine
9.1

The 2020 Sauvignon Blanc Single Vineyard Taylors Pass is a wine filled with jump-out-of-the-glass green gooseberry, passion fruit, black currant and lemongrass that will make you crave Thai flavors. It’s a light-bodied, young and punchy style, with a little more concentration than the average bear. There’s a gentle spritz on entry and sweetness to the fruit that you wouldn’t find in the Old World. Bags of flavor and juicy acidity too. (Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous, March 2022)
 — 3 years ago

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Cloudy Bay

Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2017

Delectable Wine
8.9

From a wet vintage, the 2017 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc is showing maturity now. Lime and toast develop, along with some green pyrazine characters. A bit lacking in terms of depth, and it’s probably seen its best days, as it doesn't have the flavor richness or intensity to improve. (Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous, March 2022)
 — 3 years ago

Cloudy Bay

Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2021

Delectable Wine
9.3

The 2021 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon is a precise, focused style offering vibrant passionfruit, elderflower and gooseberry fruit. This was a low-yielding vintage, and that's reflected in the intensity of concentration and aromatic richness. With mouthwatering but balanced acidity, this is really delightful, pure and vibrant Sauvignon Blanc with stony sinew on the finish. Best consumed in youth for its aromatic appeal. (Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous, March 2022)
 — 3 years ago

Greywacke

Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2021

Delectable Wine
9.3

The 2021 Sauvignon from Greywacke is classic yet classy. It is richly aromatic yet not flamboyant, with good purity of fruit: expect flavors of black currant and nectarine alongside subtle tropical fruit and citrus. Due to a naturally low-yielding season, it offers impressive concentration and a ripe, succulent midpalate. The fine, mouthwatering acidity provides length and line on the zesty, passionfruit-infused, lightly structured finish. Delightful in youth, but it will evolve and provide a different Sauvignon experience in five to seven years. (Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous, March 2022)
 — 3 years ago

Cloudy Bay

Te Koko Sauvignon Blanc 2019

Delectable Wine
9.3

Back after two years of absence (the quality was not judged good enough to create Te Koko in 2017 and 2018), the 2019 Sauvignon Blanc Te Koko reflects the more precise viticulture and pared-back winemaking now going on at Cloudy Bay. From full malo and heaps of new oak, there's now just 8% new, 52% malo and 11 months on lees in the 2019, finishing in more reductive environment of tanks and cuves rather than bottles, which creates a more defined wine. The result is a savory, plush expression that expands in the mouth. It has a delightful creamy texture yet finishes with fine tension. Gone are the days of blowsy Te Koko. This has delightful acidity, smoky notes, hazelnut, pear and nougat on the long finish. (Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous, March 2022)
 — 3 years ago