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: 2019 Smith & Sheth "Cru" Sauvignon Blanc Wairau Valley Marlborough

2019 Smith & Sheth "Cru" Sauvignon Blanc Wairau Valley Marlborough

SKU #1510999 94 points Bob Campbell

Outer quote mark Bright, tangy sauvignon blanc with appealing purity and freshness. Punchy aromatics with lime juice, gooseberry and oyster shell against a background of subtle passionfruit and tree fruit flavours. A great seafood wine with fruity (that is, not hard) knife-edged acidity Inner quote mark (9/2019)

94 points Vinous

Outer quote mark There's a delectable creaminess and rich weightiness to this Sauvignon Blanc. The label states that it hails from old vines; at an average 25 years, they are indeed pretty old in a very new, New World wine country. This isn't a huge fruit salad of Marlborough Savvy aromas; it's much more nuanced, offering subtle violets, nectarines and apple skin that dare I say has a whiff of the Loire. While still fresh, the acid is rather gentler than you'd expect - potentially an expression of this ripe vintage. An excellent showing. (RG) Inner quote mark (11/2020)

93 points James Suckling

Outer quote mark A fresh nose with cut grass, bright fresh herbs and a lime-citrus core, as well as more tropical notes, such as green passion fruit and mango. The palate is framed by fresh, piercing acidity that carries lime and green mango flavors long and fresh. Drink now. Inner quote mark (2/2021)

91 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Outer quote mark Made in a ripe, stone-fruited style, the 2019 Cru Wairau Sauvignon Blanc has just enough herbaceousness to make its varietal origins clear. It's medium-bodied, round and easy-drinking, with lingering notes of nectarine, passion fruit and tangerine on the finish. (JC) Inner quote mark (4/2020)

Jancis Robinson

Outer quote mark Some fruit from growers and some from other wineries’ vineyards – they get Steve Smith’s input in the the vineyard. 75% fermented in tank with cultured yeast, 25–30% in foudre or old barrel. 80% from stony soils around Renwick. The rest from Sam Weaver’s Churton vineyard. 55–60 hl/ha. Low-vigour vines in stony vineyards giving some phenolics to the wine even though there is no skin contact. Stony and herbal but not grassy. Intense lemon and lime fruit on the palate – and on the nose as it warms up – very chalky in texture. Only a hint of passion fruit. Dried grasses, and some orange. Chalky and saline. Textured. Quite a grip on the finish but the middle is filled out with ripe fresh fruit. Lean and stony but all in balance. This is going to be a great food wine. 17/20 points. (JH) Inner quote mark (10/2019)

Wine Spectator

Outer quote mark Intense, a sleek and zingy, mouthwatering mix of fresh grated ginger, lemon and grapefruit flavors, singing with intensity on the long finish. (MW) Inner quote mark (12/2020)

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2019 Smith & Sheth "Cru" Sauvignon Blanc Wairau Valley Marlborough

Price: $19.99

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Product Reviews:

By: Jennifer Lee | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 12/13/2020 | Send Email

I get pleasant flavors of passion fruit, dragon fruit, lychee and guava from this delicious SB from Marlborough. If you enjoy tropical fruits, this one is definitely one to stock up and share with your loved ones. This was super fun to sip and analyze all night long, and the flavors just kept getting better and better. At this amazing price, easily a case purchase. What are you waiting for? Cheers.

By: Thomas Smith | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 12/13/2020 | Send Email

When Brian Sheth set out to make an impact on the wine world, he managed to do it perfectly. After forming a partnership with Steven Smith MW, who was the force behind New Zealand’s Craggy Range, the two set out on an ambitious plan to produce wines from the absolute best New Zealand vineyards and craft them with zero compromise. In only a few years, Smith & Sheth has built a reputation for some of the most exciting wines in New Zealand and are setting the benchmark for quality. Take for instance, their 2019 Wairau Valley Sauvignon Blanc. The 2019 is beautifully crafted with a nose of pear, quince and stone fruits on those. This is unmistakably Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, but with an intensity and detail of the aromatic profile is absolutely out of this world. On the palate, there’s a remarkable minerality as well as a beautiful honeycomb richness to the wine. This is absolutely exceptional Sauvignon Blanc that deserves all the high praise it has received and more.

Additional Information:

Varietal:

Sauvignon Blanc

- One of the best known "international" varieties originally cultivated in France and considered the parent of, with Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon. Sauvignon's wonderfully distinctive aromatics generate some of wine's most colorful descriptors, among them "cat pee," herbaceous, grassy, citrusy the world over. In France, the apex of Sauvignon Blanc production is the Loire Valley, in the appellations of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, where the terroir expresses itself most beautifully through the grape. Sauvignon Blanc is also the leading white grape varietal in Bordeaux, where it is paired with the fatter, richer Sémillon to varying degrees. Relatively easy to cultivate, though more suited to cool climates, Sauvignon Blanc has made inroads in Europe outside of France, especially in Northeastern Italy's Friuli and Alto Adige, but also on the Slovenian border. These lovely wines are often overshadowed by Sauvignon Blanc's achievements in the New World, namely New Zealand, South Africa and California. New Zealand's Sauvignon Blancs, more conspicuously fruity than most French examples, landed the small island nation on the world wine map in the late-1980s and 1990s. South African Sauvignons are one of the most successful international varieties produced in that country and are often quite elegant and affordable. In California, Robert Mondavi managed to, almost single-handedly, created a market for Sauvignon Blanc by renaming his oak-fermented version Fumé Blanc. While some wineries still use the name, California Sauvignon Blanc has secured its place in the California wine pantheon, particularly those from the Napa Valley. Washington State, Chile and Argentina also have considerable plantings of the grape.

Country:

New Zealand

- New Zealand is an extremely diverse wine-growing nation. The long history of producing wine started in the 1830s with wineries such as Mission Estate (1850) and Te Mata Estate (1896) still producing wine today. The two islands hold a multitude of different growing climates ranging from warmer areas such as Hawke’s Bay to very cool regions such as Waitaki, and Awatere. Most regions are defined as Maritime with the exception being Central Otago that has a moderate Continental climate with the high elevation creating dramatic diurnal swings in temperature. The plethora of grapes grown in New Zealand reflects this diverse microclimate make up. Everything has a place here, Bordeaux varietals and Syrah in Hawke’s Bay, Chardonnay and Pinot in Nelson, Pinot Noir and Riesling in Central Otago , aromatic whites in Waipara and pretty much everything you can imagine in Marlborough. New Zealand is also one of the “greenest” wine producing nations on earth (94% of wine certified sustainable in 2013) with a strong focus on organic and Biodynamic farming.