Methode Traditionnelle

Chardonnay

Sauvignon Blanc

Aromatic

Dessert Wine

Rose

Red Wine
 

Saint Clair Pioneer Block 18 Snap Block Sauvignon Blanc 2011

This week's wine is an example of Marlborough's signature wine, Sauvignon Blanc. More specifically this Sauvignon Blanc comes from one particular block in Marlborough, Saint Clair Family Estate's Snap Block. This block is located in the Lower Wairau region, east of Blenheim.

Saint Clair's Snap Block features deep, fertile, even, free draining soils on a flat site that was once an orchard. The climate there tends to be cooler than most of Marlborough with a longer ripening period. The fertile, free draining soils produce healthy vines and fruit with concentrated flavour.

The fruit on this site was carefully monitored during ripening and was harvested in the cool of the evening to maximise flavour and retain freshness, once the grapes were deemed to have reached maximum flavour maturity and physiological ripeness. After harvest, the fruit was transported directly to the winery, where it was pressed off immediately to avoid skin contact and flavour deterioration. The wine was cool fermented using a variety of selected yeasts in 100 percent stainless steel. The batch was selected as a pioneer block wine due to its power and intensity of flavour.

I found the 2011 Saint Clair Pioneer Block 18 Snap Block Sauvignon Blanc to exhibit vibrant aromas of blackcurrant, and citrus, with notes of passionfruit. On the palate, I found this wine to have the same strong passionfruit, blackcurrant and citrus notes with a hint of salty minerality. It is wine with intense flavour and a long, lingering finish that is drinking well now. It is a wine to be enjoyed over the next two years, and I would particularly recommend it with fresh seafood, particularly a seafood salad or barbequed fish.

Reviewed by Stephen Clark (21/11/2011)
 

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