Tahuna Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2005 - Tasted on 14/Apr/06

Tasting Date: 14th Apr, 2006.
Venue: Mood@downtown restaurant in Tung Chung
Name of Wine: Tahuna Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2005
Region: Marlborough
Country: New Zealand
Alcohol level: 12.5%
Price: $375

The wine is clear, with a very pale lemon green colour. It has a broad colorless rim & a few long legs. A clean nose. Medium-intensity, youthful & fruity, mostly guava, pear, green grapes, I would call it as a tropical one. On palate it's off-dry, crispy, light-bodied with a light-medium intensity. Very fruity, mainly citrus, gooseberries, and a tinge of harbaceousness. Medium level of alcohol, providing a medium length. Grape variety: Sauvignon Blanc. Fresh & fruity, stainless steel vat & cool fermentation. It is bottled for early consumption, but could be kept for another 2 to 3 yrs. A good quality wine made for ideal companion with general Chinese food.

Remarks:

About Marlborough... ~ The biggest of New Zealand's big three wine regions. Producing 42% of all New Zealand's vineyards. Located at the north eastern tip of the South Island, consisting of a large, flat, river valley with deep deposits of silt & gravel. A range of soil patterns are found with the region, or even a single vineyard, leading to variations in quality & wine styles. A long & slow ripening season; lots of sunshine, cool nights & low rainfall. Irrigation is widely used.

Sauvignon Blanc is Marlborough's best known & most planted variety. Pungent, aromatic wines that blend tropical fruit flavours, with gooseberries & capsicum harbaceousness.

About Tahuna... ~ Tahuna is the native Maori word for riverbank. The Tahuna wines are made by Sileni Estates, a producer of New Zealand wine. Below are the details of its Sauvignon Blanc 2004, which was excerpted from Tahuna's official website:

Tasting Notes – The Tahuna Sauvignon Blanc has classic gooseberry and tropical fruit characters with fresh acidity giving focus to the fruit flavours. This is an excellent food wine and is made for drinking over 2-3 years.

Winemaking Notes – Machine harvested and cool fermented in stainless steel to retain the aromatic fruit characters, this wine is bottled young to preserve the fresh, vibrant style

Technical Notes – Alcohol: 12.5%, pH:3.43, TA:7.9 g/L, Residual Sugar: 4.5g/L