Tim McKirdy of VinePair authors a piece titled: Making the Case for Age-Worthy Sauvignon Blanc. Yes, Sauvignon Blanc. In his exploration of Sauvignon Blanc that can age, McKirdy focuses on one Loire producer and one New Zealand producer. Unsurprisingly (to us), Dog Point Vineyards is the New Zealand producer, with a focus on their utterly distinctive Section 94.
A few choice lines:
- “When we commenced with the Dog Point label, one of our prime objectives was to make wines that would age respectfully,” winemaker and co-founder Ivan Sutherland writes in a recent email exchange.
- Closely controlled cropping and canopy management allow Dog Point to achieve precise grape ripeness before 100 percent hand-harvesting — something that bucks the regional mechanized trend.
- “Aging certainly softens the wine, with less lifted aromatics and toned-down acidity,” Sutherland says. “In desirable climatic years, with controlled cropping, the wines develop a nice dried-herb, slightly honeysuckle character, with a softer, rounded palate.”
You can read the full article here.
Related Producers
Dog Point Vineyard
Marlborough, New Zealand
Almost since its inception, Dog Point has been recognized as among the very top (arguably the very top) wine producers in New Zealand. Their two very different Sauvignon Blancs, their Pinot Noir, and their Chardonnay are all wines of astounding quality and complexity not just in the context of New Zealand wines, but globally.