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The Sunshine Bay Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2021 is a $7.95 wine that is exclusive to Aldi in the US. This is a wine that is sourced from estate vineyards in the Wairau Valley of the Marlborough region in the northern section of New Zealand’s South Island. They do not mention which estate produced this wine.
The importer C K Skaggs owns the trademark of the Sunshine Bay name, so determining which winery made this Sauvignon Blanc gets confusing (there are a couple of likely candidates), but this is an estate-grown, produced, and bottled wine.
The Wairau Valley is one of the 3 valleys that comprise the Marlborough grape-growing region. Marlborough produced 75% of New Zealand’s wine output and Wairau Valley makes 45% of the wine in Marlborough.
The Sunshine Bay Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2021 is a young wine with very little aging and is meant to be consumed sooner rather than later. These wines do have two maybe three years of shelf life when they will be fresh and vibrant to drink, but it is always a wise move with young wines to purchase the most current vintage.
There are no technical notes available on the making of Sunshine Bay Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2021. Young Sauvignon Blanc wines are typically fermented and aged in stainless steel tanks. The grapes undergo simple winemaking procedures. Many wines are said to go from the vineyard to the bottle with minimal intervention and young Sauvignon Blanc wines are an example of this. The alcohol content is a mild 12.5%.
The Sunshine Bay Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2021 Tasting Notes
The color is pale wheat yellow. The nose is one of those New Zealand Sauv Blanc where the aromas jump out of the glass, there are scents of peach, pineapple, pear, apple, honey, melon, guava, and slightly grassy. The Sunshine Bay Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2021 is a bright, crisp Sauvignon Blanc with a pleasing mix of sweet and sour flavors.
This Sauvignon Blanc tastes like bright lime, melon, a mix of peach and pear, along with green apple. The mid-palate offers that salty/nutty “on-lees” sensation, orange juice, and nectarine. The acidity is bright and makes this Sauv Blanc very easy to drink.
The Summary
- The Sunshine Bay Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2021 is an interesting and tasty wine.
- Some sub-ten buck NZ Sauv Blancs are very drinkable but somewhat generic, the Sunshine Bay is a wine with personality.
- At $7.95 this Aldi wine is a bargain, there are wine reviewers who have issued this 90 points (I agree with them), it is a lot of wine for the money.
