WTN: 2005 Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc

My wife and I finally dined at a little Thai restaurant in Tacoma that has been on our list to try for a long time. [BTW a big thumbs up for Silk Thai on 6th Avenue in Tacoma.] Although my wife wanted a beer with her dinner, I couldn't resist pairing my seafood medley with basil in red curry sauce (medium-to-mild) with a chilled Sauvignon Blanc.

I saw the 2005 Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough, New Zealand) on the wine list and recognized it as a wine I had tried several times in the past few years. It's not a blockbuster, but is always quite good. This wine has crisp citrus and tropical fruit flavors with a bit of grass. And it went great with that meal.

Good notes Clark, a winner winery eh. Try the Gewurtz if you see it around, a lovely wine.

I'm actually a big fan of the Villa Maria Riesling - especially for the price (comes in between $15-$20 CAD here in Alberta).

[Jenise]

Good notes Clark, a winner winery eh. Try the Gewurtz if you see it around, a lovely wine.

I would also recommend to Clark that he be all over any of the single vineyard Villa Maria wines if he's ever lucky enough to see them. They are stunning, quality at a level most people don't understand exists. The Clifford Bay is my favorite.

Hey, thank you all for those recommendations. If you read my tale about Viognier (July Wine Focus), then you know I have a weakness for aromatic wines. I've never seen anything but the Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc in any of the stores around here. However, I will definitely keep my eyes (and nose) open for other offerings from this winery.

-- Clark

Villa Maria can make some mighty fine reds too, especially their reserve and single vineyard Pinots and the Reserve Merlot and Merlot-Cab blend. NZ is mianly known for their whites, especially SB, but the Hawkes Bay area (and the Gimlett Gravels area in particular) can produce some great reds in the right/ripe vintages (e.g., 1998, 2000 and 2002).

Of course, it's hard to find many top NZ reds outside of NZ and OZ, as there isn't the market for them (yet). The Central Otago pinots seems to be leading the charge in Canada and the States.

I brought back a couple of the Villa Maria Reserve Merlot 2002 from NZ a while back - very nice wine, even for this New World merlot skeptic!