The first gift of 2010!  This outstanding little gem comes from Bordeaux, France.  The importer of this white wine is Monsieur Touton Selection LTD.  I mention this because the bottle does not indicate who the actual producer is of this wine.  Guillaume Touton aka “Monsieur Touton” is the man behind this wine importing company.  Mr. Touton works with several hundred producers from several countries and employs over 80 sales people whose offices are located in New York, Boston and Washington.  His company has earned a reputation as being one of the most prolific importers of French wine on the East Coast within the United States.

After tasting this particular 100% Sauvignon Blanc for the first time this past New Year’s weekend, I can see why his company has earned such a great reputation on the East Coast.

The  2008 Monsieur Touton Sauvignon Blanc possesses just the right amount of zesty sauvignon blanc flavors that let you know that it’s distinctively French, but the acidity that it delivers really pops nicely for an inexpensive white Bordeaux without the pucker up style of a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.  I think my wife summed up this wine perfectly when she said, “It’s pretty”.  I agree, for $10 dollars a bottle, there’s a whole lot to like about the 2008 Monsieur Touton Sauvignon Blanc – especially if you’re an everyday wine drinker looking for a great everyday white to go with dinner.

I award the 2008 Monsieur Touton Sauvignon Blanc 3 stars out 4.  You won’t mistake it for a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, but this classic and affordable French Sauvignon Blanc has just the right amount of zip on it!

WineLife365 Rating: 3-Star

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These “special” wines were um…how you say “quite so-so”.  As I contemplated what do with these 2’s in the form of a writing assignment and giving them their rightful place in my wine rating system, it brought memories of a highly publicized light-weight fight that took place back in 1980 between Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto “Hands of Stone” Duran.  This boxing match would be the second encounter between these two fighters.  One of the most famous boxing quotes ever recorded took place in the 8^th round of this historic second fight when Sugar Ray Leonard backed Roberto Duran into a corner and proceeded to throw everything at him except for the proverbial kitchen sink.  As Roberto Duran was being punch-drunk by Leonard’s flurry of punches, it is said that Mr. Duran muttered the words “No Mas…No Mas” which in English mean “No More…No More”.  The fight was then immediately stopped by the ring official, but Roberto Duran to this day claims what he really said was, “my stomach is hurting too much”.

I feel your pain Roberto! After going 8 rounds with the wines listed below, my stomach as well as my wallet were both hurting! 

Take for instance, the 2008 New Harbor New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.  It was fine with its low citrus and passion fruit flavors and lackluster New Zealand style finish.  It was definitely a wine that spilled with mediocrity when compared to other New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs in the same price range and certainly worthy of a 2 star rating.

Or, how about the 2007 Domaine du Prieuré d’Amilhac Pinot Blanc Chardonnay from France?  This inexpensive white French table wine totally fit the bill of a 2 star rating.  It’s flavors were just beyond a glass of ice-cold mineral water with a spritz of lemon, and was the kind of stuff worth twiddling your fingers and counting backwards from 100.  

Or, how about this stomach ache inducer from Chile:  The 2008 Step by Step (Ohh baby! - minus the New Kids on the Block) Sauvignon Blanc.  This Chilean Sauvignon Blanc is a “Fair Trade Certified Wine”, which means that a portion of the profits from the sale of this wine will go towards securing health coverage for more than 1,400 Maule Valley vineyard workers and their families.  I certainly support this effort, but unfortunately, the peculiar combination of nectarine and woodsy flavors left me feeling a bit green, if you know what I mean.  This Sauvignon Blanc was definitely not my cup of tea at all and deserved a 2.

Finally, I took another unsuccessful plunge into South Africa and found a bizarre tasting 2008 Porcupine Ridge Sauvignon Blanc that reeked of tart sour apples, cigarettes, and wood.  This Sauvignon Blanc is definitely an acquired taste for those with an adventurous palate. 

But, lets not forget (no-I must forget!) about some not so good red wines that were also deserving of a WineLife365 2 Star rating.  I’ll start first with a land that is very near and dear to my heart when it comes to making exquisite and delicious red wine – my beloved Spain.

The 2006 Unio Perlot from the wine region Montsant in Spain was barely ok on my taste scale and narrowly escaped from being banished into the WineLife365 basement of shame.  The label on this Spanish red wine indicates that it’s a blend of 40% Grenache, 40% Cainena, and 20% Syrah.  This blend sounded wonderful, but the output was a rather light, tasteless red wine that failed to captivate my love of Spanish reds.

Another red wine that left me scratching my head was the 2008 Pascual Toso Malbec from Argentina.  This odd tasting wine is almost good, except for the strange Coca-Cola meets Starbucks coffee, and oh lets add a cherry tootsie pop for good measure finish.  Oddly enough however, it’s almost pretty good, but it’s still a 2 in my book.

While I’m still on the subject of Argentina, here’s another Malbec that you’ll either find moderately appealing or you’ll put to night, night – it’s the 2008 Dona Paula Estate Malbec.  I tend to get pretty giddy when I come across a red wine where the grapes are grown and the wine is produced and bottled by the same winery for less than $15 bucks.  Unfortunately, I found this light-bodied raspberry and cherry flavored wine to be very disappointing and it fell below my expectations of “Estate Bottled” wine.  

Finally, how could I ever forget about the 2007 Sawbuck Cabernet Sauvignon from California?  I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical when one of my local wine guys handed me this $10 Cab to try (basing my opinion solely on the label alone), but he assured me that the contents inside the bottle would deliver a very good taste performance.  Unfortunately, it’s a “No way Jose!” from me on this one.  I found the finish on this wine to be rather dismal and can’t really think of anything that would entice me to purchase it again.

So there you have it, 8 grueling rounds with a lot of tough tasting wines.  “No mas…No mas!”  It’s now up to you to decide if you’re going to step into the ring with them or just throw in the towel!

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Origin: Napa Valley, California

Price: $19.00

St. Supéry is a family-owned estate winery located in Napa Valley, California.  The wines here are “Estate Bottled”, which in layman’s terms means that 100% of this wine came from grapes grown on land owned or controlled by St. Supéry.  Additionally, the folks at St. Supéry are also responsible for every aspect of the winemaking process and bottling of this wine.  The winery is owned by the Skalli family, originally from France, and they have been making wine for several generations.  While traveling in Napa Valley during the 1970s, Robert Skalli was inspired and wanted to establish an estate winery there.  His ambition was to produce wines that would be both distinctive and respectable.    

I recently had the pleasure to sample the 2008 St. Supéry “Estate Bottled” Sauvignon Blanc, and was eager to determine if Mr. Skalli achieved his ambition.  So, was the 2008 St. Supéry “Estate Bottled” Sauvignon Blanc in fact distinctive and respectable?  It sure was – on both accounts.

My initial reaction when I first raised the glass towards my lips was, “Wow – Is this really an American-made Sauvignon Blanc?”  If I were blindfolded, I would have guessed by the smell alone that this wine was produced in New Zealand, not Napa Valley.  It had that familiar big grapefruit and fresh cut grass bouquet that is reminiscent of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.  But that’s about as far as the similarities go.

As I began to taste this wine, it revealed some rather distinctive characteristics.  It tasted part New Zealand and part French Sancerre or Pouilly-Fume to me.  It displayed tons of grapefruit, pineapple, lime, and passion fruit that made me pucker up a bit like a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, but it had this great refreshing acidic and mineral finish that reminded me more of a French Sancerre or Pouilly-Fume.  It was as if the winemaker was able to capture the best qualities of each style to create a distinctively American version.   

All in all, I totally enjoyed the 2008 St. Supéry “Estate Bottled” Sauvignon Blanc.  It also brought back some great memories of our trips to California Wine Country and the St. Supéry winery.

The bottom line on this Sauvignon Blanc:  If you’re as acidic and citrus obsessed with New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc as I am, but you’re interested in a wine with the complexity of a finely crafted French Sancerre or Pouilly-Fume, then the 2008 St. Supéry “Estate Bottled” Sauvignon Blanc is the right fit for you! Try it for yourself!

I award it 3 Stars out 4.

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First up, was a Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand.  By now, everyone should know that Marlborough is home to some of the tastiest Sauvignon Blancs on earth, right?  So, I came across a name that I’d never heard of before and decided to give it a “taste drive”.  This 2008 New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc was called Ponga.  I was drawn to this white wine for three reasons:  First, I love - I mean really LOVE New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc; second, it was a new wine (at least to me); and third, it was priced under $10…which you don’t see very often when it comes to New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

So how was the 2008 Ponga?  Well, not very good in my opinion.  It was of a lesser quality than many of the New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs that I’ve tasted so far this year.  It lacked that familiar grassiness and crisp acidity that I love about New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, and it had a very odd tasting nectarine and citrus flavor that didn’t do much for me.  Finally, there was absolutely no finish in the finale of this wine to convince me to purchase it again.

Unfortunately, I have to give the 2008 Ponga 2 stars out of 4.  It wasn’t completely dreadful, but it was pretty far off from the delicious “Marlborough Gold” costing just a few dollars more.

Next up on this Friday evening was the red, which came from the Stags Leap District in beautiful Napa Valley, California.  It was a 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon called Angels Landing.  If you didn’t already know, the Stag’s Leap District is home to some the finest made Cabernet Sauvignons in the world.  However, precision-made Cabs from this part of the Napa neighborhood, in normal economic times, usually fetch prices between $50 to ”the sky is the limit”.  But times are tough these days and everyone is feeling the pinch, even the wine industry.  Which is why this a great time to discover lots of wines at bargain prices, if you’re willing to look for them and give them a try!  Such was the case with this obscure looking Cabernet Sauvignon from Angels Landing.  This wine was priced at $19.99 a bottle and had a label that I had never seen before.  But I thought, $20 for a Stags Leap District wine – it’s gotta be at least halfway decent?!  So, I picked up a bottle of this “unknown” Cab to see for myself if it was indeed as “heavenly” as I imagined it.

So, was the 2007 Angels Landing Cabernet Sauvignon heaven on earth?  You bet your sweet bippy it was - and then some!  I only have one word to describe this California Cab - WOW!!  If you’re looking for a flawless California Cab, then this just might be the best buy on the market right now.  Again, I paid $19.99 for this California Cab and it tasted more like a $50 dollar bottle of wine.  I could go on and on about this wine, but I’ll stop right now to allow you to head straight over to your local wine establishment to buy as much of it as you possibly can!  This wine will blow your mind – trust me!

I give the 2007 Angels Landing Cabernet Sauvignon 4 Stars!  I would strongly encourage you to purchase as much of this wine as you can before it’s all gone.

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From: New Zealand

Price: $12.99

I’ve openly admitted that I personally love New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.  I can’t even remember the last one that I’ve tasted that I thought was just “so-so”.  I do know, however, that I’ve never tasted one that I thought was either bad or awful.  Unfortunately, the 2008 Matua Valley Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand broke the streak.  The 2008 Matua Valley Sauvignon Blanc is the most disappointing, or “so-so”, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc that I’ve tasted this year.  This white wine lacked all of strong characteristics that I love about New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.  If I were to have tasted this Sauvignon Blanc blindfolded, I would have sworn that it came from France, not New Zealand.  It just lacked that exciting fresh, grassy, citrusy zip that I really enjoy about New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs.  Instead, the 2008 Matua Valley Sauvignon Blanc had more of a minerally and chalky taste to it that reminded me of a French Sauvignon Blanc.  

The competition is fierce in Marlborough, New Zealand when it comes to first-rate Sauvignon Blanc.  For a few bucks more you can taste the good stuff. Grab a bottle of Villa Maria or Kim Crawford instead.  If you want to keep it in the same price range, Oyster Bay, that we reviewed earlier this year, is the way to go.

WineLife365 Rating: 2-Star

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