WTN: Dolomiti Sauvignon, Baden Spätburgunder, Corinth Cab

2005 Pojer e Sandri Vignetti Delle Dolomiti Sauvignon (Alto Adige/Südtirol, Italy) 13% – smell strong grapefruit, light peaches, hint of sweet, with air, mouthwatering fruit and stones, mouthfeel slightly chewy, bare acidity, the acidity rises and chewiness falls as the wine opens up, taste good background fruit, some tropical pineapple, simple pleasant grapefruit, finish of blueberry, skins, and variety of stones, nice, simple wine with bare level of sweetness

2004 Salwey Oberrotweiler Kirchberg Baden/Kaiserstuhl Spätburgunder “RS” Trocken (Germany) 13.5% - smell sweaty clothes (in nonoffensive way), fennel/coriander, hint of earth, cough inducing a bit, hint of fruit spice, mouthfeel cool on tongue, very smooth, almost light leather feel at times, taste dark spicy pie, solid flavor, tangy, very delicate light wild berry flavors, wonderful indian spices dancing in midmouth, finish of fruit, hint of oak, dry and peppery, charcoal, overall lovely combination, would pair best with pork, went superb by itself

1998 Cava Papaioannou Corinth Cabernet Sauvignon (Greece) – smell black cherry, cloves, mulled spice, nice dark element, taste tart cherry and something like orange juice at first, wine felt tightly bound so I let it set in my glass for as long as possible, after about 3.5 hours it felt like it was opening up, softer tones, suave somewhat velvety fruit, bit of raisin sneaking in, pleasant wine with emphasis on the darker side of fruit

Nice notes. Are you buying all these wines in your small village? If so a truly impressive selection..

I had a few Greek wines last summer during my visit to Athens and Islands, although due to my palate I explored more of the northern whites and xinomavro, many seemed a but rustic (which may be similar to the tart orange juice combined with velvety fruit that you experienced) but I also understand that the "quality" standards are improving greatly every year.

Are you buying all these wines in your small village? If so a truly impressive selection..

No, actually we get most of our wine from visits to the various wineries . . . our way of familiarizing ourselves with our surrounding winescape, so to speak. The exception in this case being the cabernet sauvignon, as I've never been to Greece ... some friends of Greek descent shared that one with us. I have very little experience with Greek wines, but always have a weakness for those indigenous grapes. Some people are influenced by cute labels and wine mascots, I'm a sucker for the mystique of a 'new varietal'.

Hopefully someday I'll make it out to Greece and see what mysterious things they have going on there . . .

Keith,

Nice notes on the Sauvignon, I think you've captured the essence of Alto Adige/Trentino SBL very well, but did you really mean that the wine had residual sweetness?

did you really mean that the wine had residual sweetness?

Oliver,

Oops, no that was poor wording on my part. It was most definitely a dry wine. The 'bare level of sweetness' was not sweet on the tongue, as I would describe some residual sweetness. Instead I meant there was some lingering essence of sweet fruit left in the mouth, like after eating a peach or some canteloupe . . . . more of a faint reminder of sweet fruit in the back and top of the mouth than anything on the tongue.

Good catch!

No, actually we get most of our wine from visits to the various wineries . . . our way of familiarizing ourselves with our surrounding winescape, so to speak.

Even better..

Keith,

Makes sense to me.

The combination of gooseberry/herbal notes and apricot/peach notes, with excellent acidity, is why I like the better SBL's from that region. They are also extremely varietal; it's a litmus test for whether you like SBL or not.

apricot/peach notes...are also extremely varietal; it's a litmus test for whether you like SBL or not.

Really? Can't say I've noticed a whole lot of apricot and peach on sauvignon blanc from the Loire or even New Zealand (excluding oak aging). Wouldn't that make it an Alto-Adige/Trentino flavor as opposed to a natural sauvignon blanc flavor?

Although, it is surprising because one would imagine apricot and peach nuances to emerge where the grapes get riper, and I wouldn't think of Alto-Adige or Trentino as being that much more likely to ripen further than Sancerre/Touraine/etc.