BABICH MARLBOROUGH SAUVIGNON BLANC 2007
Overview:
A long and late ripening period of short sunny days and cold nights has enhanced the typically vibrant flavours of the Marlborough Region.
Grapes:
100% Sauvignon Blanc
Region:
Marlborough
Winemaker:
Adam Hazeldine
Recommended Food:
It works well with a white meat dish. Great with oysters or a green salad.
Recommended Cellaring:
Best enjoyed while young.
Production Notes:
After harvest the grapes were quickly crushed and pressed into stainless steel tanks where the juice was fermented at controlled cool temperatures to capture the intense varietal flavours. The wine was then blended and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
The aroma of lantana and wild herbs combines with tropical fruits and green apple. The palate is exuberant and intense -fruit salad, nettles and fresh herbs burst into existence and continue through the length of the palate, joined at the end by lime/citrus and mineral notes. A powerful and lengthy Sauvignon.
Awards:
4 STARS
-Cuisine Magazine, Nov 2007
5 STARS - 94 POINTS - SMART BUY
-WineOrbit, August 2007
GOLD MEDAL
-Port of Wines Festival, Nova Scotia, 2007
Reviews:
"They’ve hit a 6 with this wine. Full on passion fruit and feijoas with a succulent palate loaded with ripe fruit flavours. The zesty acid adds real life to the wine and lengthens the finish. It’s gorgeous: pure and absolutely delicious. At its best: now to 2008."
94 POINTS - SMART BUY
5 STARS
-WineOrbit Review, August 2007
"Joe Babich favours 'a fuller, riper, softer style of Sauvignon Blanc. It's not a jump out of the glass style, but the wines develop well. The latest release reflect a rising input of grapes from the company's Cowslip Valley vineyard in the Waihopai Valley, which gives less herbaceous fruit characters than its other Marlborough vineyards. The 2007 is freshly scented, ripe and rounded, with melon, lime and passionfruit flavours, showing very good depth, purity and length."
-Michael Cooper's A Buyers Guide to New Zealand Wines 2008
"A generous, fleshy, crisp expression of the grape and an ideal partner for fleshy shucked Clevedon oysters. This wine is a real Marlborough salad, a blend of fruit from Babich's extensive vineyards in the big three valleys: Wairau, Awatere and Waihopai."
-Cuisine Magazine, January 2008
"The 2007 Sauvignon Blanc exhibits a quintessential herbaceous nose with gooseberry and a touch of mango on the sharp, crisp, perhaps slightly raspy finish."
87 POINTS
-Wine Advocate Issue #176, Neal Martin, April, 2008
"Grassy and herbaceous on the nose, this is fully textured on the palate with oodles of flavour - passion fruit, gooseberry and white grapefruit predominant. Family-owned and run for over ninety years, they've produced a softer-styled wine this vintage with a classic crisp and clean mouth-watering finish."
-Winecurrent.com, Vic Harradine, May 24 2008
"Many New Zealand Sauvignons are aggressively herbal; this example from the venerable Babich winery hews to a more moderate style with attractive tropical-fruit aromas in the nose and well balanced, crisp flavor with mineral notes."
-Los Angeles Times, USA, June 2008
"Pow! Wham! Smack! This juicy easy-to-gulp wine from New Zealand "takes no prisoners"."
-The Week Magazine, New York, July 2008
"Pale yellow with hints of green, this sauvignon blanc has a strong, but balanced, fragrance of gooseberry, citrus, green apple, and herbs, possibly grass. Crisp on the palate with mineral notes, the fruit flavors develop nicely before tapering off to a brisk, mildly acidic finish. This would be a very food-friendly wine that could be served with a wide variety of cuisines. Our score: Above Average, nearly Excellent."
-www.abcwinereviews.com, June 2008
"The first Sauv Blanc I ever had from there (NZ) is still on of my favourites and still on of the best. Babich's 2007 is loaded with exotic citrus and tropical fruit yet manages to remain balanced and elegant."
-David Olson, Greenwood Village Co., Aug 2008
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