The best Sauvignon Blancs from the 2017 Global Masters
By
Patrick Schmitt
About the competition
The best wines were awarded medals which ranged from Bronze through to Gold, as well as Master, the ultimate accolade, given only to exceptional wines in the tasting. The wines were judged by a cherry-picked group of Masters of Wine and sommeliers on 23 November at Baltic Restaurant in Southwark in London.
This report only features the medal-winners.
DISTINCTIVE, DELICIOUS
In short, Sauvignon, like many great white grapes of the world, can produce a disappointing result, but it can, more often than not, create something distinctive and delicious. And, importantly, Sauvignon can be used to make something fine. After all, the great whites of Bordeaux, dominated by Sauvignon, are some of the most soughtafter and expensive wines in the world – even if it’s the white Burgundy that’s currently deemed so fashionable among fine wine collectors.
If you are still unsure as to whether such analysis is accurate, look over the results from this year’s Masters, which highlight the greatness possible from this grape, and the sources of the top medallists, as well as the producers responsible for crafting the wines. Indeed, even under £10, we had some lovely wines, particularly from New Zealand, as one might expect, but also from Chile, Spain and South Africa, testament to the grape’s ability to deliver a lot of character for your cash.
Move up the price scale to the £10-£15 price band, and the regions where this grape excels become clearer. In New Zealand, it will be no surprise to see Marlborough feature regularly, while in South Africa, the tasting confirms that the Durbanville Hills is really carving out a reputation as a go-to place for Sauvignon Blanc, although it is not the only part of the Western Cape making great whites from this variety.
As for Chile, the more upmarket and nuanced examples of Sauvignon from South America do seem, consistently, to come from the Leyda Valley, where they have an appealing citrus bite and mouthwatering salty finish. Australia too, which isn’t well known for Sauvignon, is able to compete on the world stage with whites from Adelaide Hills, even if this region is most famous for delicious Chardonnay.
Over £15, it was exciting to find our first Master – the ultimate accolade in the competition. While it had the polish of a great white from Marlborough, it was from New Zealand’s Nelson region, specifically the Tasman Bay Area. Running this wine close for quality were lovely bright aromatic examples from Marlborough, made by the likes of Mud House, Babich and Kim Crawford – which all achieved Golds. But South Africa also mingled with the best, with Neethlingshof’s Jackal’s Dance netting a Gold, as did a great and relatively affordable example from the Old World: Château de Tracy – the celebrated estate of the Loire’s Pouilly Fumé.