Fruit casket...
Written: Nov 23 '00
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Good fruit, very promising...
Cons: Cloaked with the wood...
|
|
|
| PALWalrus's Full Review: Kenwood Sauvignon Blanc 1998 |
This is not of the item listed, but rather of the 1999 Sauvignon Blanc. Hopefully when this category is updated this listing will be linked correctly.
This last couple of weeks has been a real trip down memory lane with many tastings of New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs. I have felt that I should try some of the 'local' product and had been directed in the past by some very respected Epinionators towards the Kenwood Vineyards and the wines that they had to offer. Being a full-fledged Kiwi I must note that I will be fighting an equally full-fledged biased towards New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs when doing this review. I hope that the internal battles that I fought are obvious from this review and that you will treat it compassion and understanding.
The bottle...
The bottle is the high shouldered variety with totally clear glass. The glass reveals everything about the wine color at a glance. For 'local' wines this is a good option as exposure to the wine deadly sunlight can be minimalized, on the whole I prefer slight darker glass as risk of damage is reduced. The labeling is clear and precise, just stating year, vineyard, vintage and variety. It is always comforting to get away from over crowded labels, we have all the information we need.
Opening up...
After prying the cork out of the top of the bottle I take a quick sniff and am pleasantly surprised...the initial aroma is fresh apples, not green apples, but apples all the same. There is a initial hit of vanilla, hmmm this seems to be growing...quite strong now, lets see what happens...
Pouring and swirling...
Well, nothing we didn't expect, the clear bottle told us everything, the wine pours out into the glass a soft light gold color with good clarity. The 13.5 % alcohol is fairly evident with the slight clinging to the sides of the glass, even though the fluid itself does not appear very viscos. The nose is getting better definition as I swirl and the wine increases temperature slightly, there is definitely apple, like a Golden Delicious (not sure whether you get that variety here) with a crisp, clean, sweet apple tinge. The is some soft lemon citrus there too. What concerns me is the wood that appears to be marching forward, please no, not wood on this my favorite grape...
The taste...
Sipping the first mouth full and swirling around the mouth I get a goodly smattering of sugar to the front of the tongue, and the orchard fruit is really promising, but...arkkkk...oh that wood, there is quite a lot of wood to this. The tannic feel is coating the tongue and filling the checks, this is softening the acid edge right down and overpowering the fruits with the dreaded sweet vanilla...damn this is frustrating...
Conclusion...
Perhaps this last few weeks has spoilt me, I have been drinking wonderfully clean fresh highly acidic Sauv Blancs then ran into a wooden ambush, and one that I wasn't expecting. I note now on the label that it says that the wine was aged in small French oak barrels..my only question is why? why? why? This wine promised much fruit, and ended up giving me a good taste of the box it was delivered in. I hope that one day the American wine makers will realise that the clean fresh taste doesn't have to be mallowed out with wood, good food will do that and is a lot more under the drinkers control. This wine showed extreme promise and was nipped in the bud. While still very drinkable, give me the fruit...not the casket...
Recommended:
No
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
PALWalrus
|
|
Location: Alachua, FL
Reviews written: 87
Trusted by: 43 members
About Me:
Good food, fine wine and close friends...who could ask for anything more?
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.