The 90+ Cellars Sauvignon Blanc is sourced from vineyards in Marlborough in the upper part of South Island in New Zealand. 90+ Cellars is a negociant, a negociant buys juice from wineries and sells the wine under their own label, to make this situation work for both parties the source of the wine must be kept secret. Most negociants often improve the wine, either do further aging or add other purchased wines to make a blend, 90+ Cellars does not touch the wine. They choose wines that in the recent past have received ratings of 90 or more points by one of the leading wine magazines and they contract for a specific number of cases of the current vintage from that winery. When the producing company is bottling the wine they merely switch the label machine from their own label to the 90+ Cellars label, sometimes they remember to also switch the corks and sometimes they forget (you can occasional tell who was the source producer because the original cork is still in the bottle). So this is the exact same wine that had originally received 90 rating points, they only thing different is the label. Well, that and the price, I found this Sauvignon Blanc on sale for $8.99 and the source wine typically sells for $15 to $18, what a difference a label makes. The alcohol content is 12.5%.
The color is a pale wheat yellow. The nose is huge, you can smell this one from a yard away, it is bursting with tropical fruit and flowers along with ripe pear, melon and a grassy note. This is a Sauvignon Blanc with a firm mouth feel and bright burst of acidity near the finish. It tastes of kiwi, cantaloupe, non sweet pineapple juice and a little ice tea. The mid palate brings peach, tart tangerine and a little creamy lemon. The acidity is well balanced, the flavors are all bright and shiny, but you do not get that acidic bite. The finish is full and very long.
The 90+ Cellars Sauvignon Blanc Lot 2 is a very good Sauvignon Blanc, kudos to whomever produced this wine and kudos to us for getting to enjoy a fine wine at a bargain price. This Sauv Blanc is well made, the nose has a lovely bouquet and is very tasty with strong assertive flavors. Find it on sale and the 90+ Cellars Sauvignon Blanc will make your week.
Here is a review of the 2011 vintage , a local wine shop tipped us off to the source for this wine. Is it still sourced from the same winery? I don’t know for sure, but the tasting notes are similar.
