I picked this wine up at Cave Spring last weekend while visiting the place with Howie. Cave Spring's Sauvignon Blanc is regularly available at the LCBO, but I like the wine and so I bought one all the same.
12.5% alc. Bright straw colour. Excellent varietal nose of asparagus and greens with a hint of canteloupe and bright lemony citrus aromas. Very tart and bracing on the entry; 2004 really shows through in the acidity. Pleasantly dry and tense; acidic yet in a balanced way. Flavours follow through onto the palate. Finishes crisp and dry with a slight sulfury/matchstick note, but this doesn't linger. The finish is clean and dry.
Sauvignon Blanc makes truly wonderful, varietally correct whites with great acidic backbone and definition here in Ontario; it's a real pity that the grape isn't quite hardy enough to survive our meaner winters. I've enjoyed Cave Spring's example for years now.
In 2003, they unfortunately had to resort to releasing a non-VQA Sauvignon - precisely because two severe winter kills in a row decimated the vines. Happily, the 2004 release is back to being 100% VQA.