Tried this wine this weekend:
1. SonomaCoastVnyds HummingbirdHillVnyd SonomaCoast SauvignonBlanc (13.8%; Clone 1 & SauvignonMusque; 35% barrel frmtd; 5 mo.sur lie, French oak; 1116 cs; TA: 0.72, pH: 3.23; http://www.SonomaCoastVineyards.com) 2005: Very pale/near colorless; fragrant/perfumed rather melony/SB quite minerally almost chalky very light oak lovely/complex nose; tart lush ripe/melony/SB no herbal/grassy/vegetal very minerally/interesting balanced/spicy complex flavor; very long/lingering tart round/lush ripe/melony/SB very minerally complex finish; beautiful quite Loire-like SB at a great price. $25.00
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And Tony gets a BloodyPulpit:
1. I recently ordered a 4-pak of the SonomaCoastVnyds wines. This is the winery of Tony Austin, who I've followed from the very start in his days at Firestone in the mid-'70's. I'm not a very big fan of SauvBlanc. I find them often lean/hard or at the other extreme Chard wannabes.
This one was definitely NOT that. It had a lot of ripe melon character, yet a razor-sharp/vibrant minerality much like a great Loire. Maybe even a Dagueneau wine in style. Generally, SBs of this high an acidity level are hurtey on the palate. This had a rich/lush texture but an acidty that made the wine reverberate across the walls of the palate like a LasVega light show. It's pretty rare to find SauvBlanc grown out on the extreme SonomaCoast, so I had low expectations for this wine.
IMHO, one of the greatest SBs I've ever had in my life. Kudos to Tony Austin on this one.
Tom