It’s like when you casually lean over to smell a rose, not expecting anything, and you can actually smell the rose! It transports you to your childhood in your grandmother’s beautiful garden with melon sized roses that you could smell from a yard away.
That is how the Manu Sauvignon Blanc is. You open it and pour, expecting to smell some Sauvignon Blanc, but then you smell it! It has a gorgeous nose that feels like a lungful of fresh air out on an alpine meadow. It is full of bright lime, grapefruit and green apple freshness balanced with tropical notes of guava and gooseberry. It is overlaid by a wonderful herbal grassiness that reminds you of lying on a hillside on a lush lawn watching the clouds drift across the sky. Even if you never actually taste the wine, you could breathe it in all day.
But then if you do taste it, it is tart and tangy, round and smooth and totally refreshing – from the first taste to the last lingering flavors, it is a wine to be tasted with your eyes closed.
Sauvignon Blanc is grown in many regions of the world. While the Loire and Bordeaux are undoubtedly the wellspring of classic Sauvignon Blanc wines, it has found one of its most popular expressions in New Zealand. Close to 95% of all wine exported form New Zealand is Sauvignon Blanc, followed by very excellent Pinot Noir. What is it about this southern clime that makes this wine so special there? There are several factors. One is the ideal climate in the Marlborough region of the southern island. It is a maritime climate with warm, sunny days and cool nights with ocean breezes flowing off the Pacific to cool down the vines. The morning fogs protect the grapes from the worst of the sun’s ray until the sun is overhead and the leaves can protect them – after all, grapes can get sunburned too. It has combination of schist and sandstone mixed with clay (called Greywacke) that allows the roots of of the plant to penetrate deep, drain well and yet retain enough moisture to nourish the vines. And of course, the final factor is the winemaker. Steve Bird is a fabulous producer – dedicated, thoughtful and willing to think “outside the box.”
As our summer transitions into autumn, this wine will allow you to linger in that alpine meadow for a little longer and draw out the best of the season.
