Lawsons Dry Hills Sauvignon Blanc

Lawsons Dry Hills Sauvignon Blanc, 2005
Marlborough, New Zealand
E-Mart, W24,000.

Well, I have written about this in brief in other posts yet have never given it my full attention. Why? Well, it really is very good and generally it has been put away before there is any time to write it up.
Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is one of those wines that really does show off the true varietal character of a grape. It is a region that takes the grape and produces wines that seem to have all the characteristics that are noted for Sauvignon Blanc(SB). SB tends to be a gooseberry, cat piss, passion fruit, grassy, herbaceous wine. That is what you get with Marlborough SBs. Some can do more tropical fruit, some more of the grassy quality but there is usually no mistaking what it is that is in front of you.
I suspect in the UK they may soon go the way of Chardonnay, that is people becoming tired of its power house fruit and intense refreshing hit. That is the nature of fashion but unlike the welcome retreat of the over ripe, over oaked Chardonnays I think it would be a shame if Marlborough SB went out of fashion. It is a great wine.

The Lawsons is a great example of the more ripe style of the region. This is a 2005, I believe the ones I had before were 2006 and SB does benefit from being young. It is a wine all about lively fruit, not developing, secondary flavours. Indeed, the secondary flavours tend to be somewhat unpleasant tinned vegetable aromas.
This is a clear and bright lemon yellow wine of a medium intensity(I know people probably don't care too much about the appearance, this is for me and my course). The nose is great, pretty intense with no searching for the fruit required. It comes straight with the grassiness so appealing to SB and then follows up with some lovely tropical fruit aromas. Pineapple is there as is passion fruit. Gooseberry is there as well though a much riper gooseberry than some SBs. It is all backed up by a fresh citrus lemon and all in gives off a really refreshing idea of the drink to come.
And it is refreshing. Mouth watering. Crisp. An intense fruit burst with citrus taking the lead quickly followed by the fuller, riper pineapple. It has really good length with the herbaceousness and gooseberry lingering just long enough to remind you to have another slug on it(I mean, sip, of course). This is not a subtle wine, there is none of the minerality of a great Sancerre or Pouilly Fume but then to get even a decent SB from the Loire you have to pay a premium.
One of the nicest things about this wine is its price, at 24,000 that converts to about £12. Majestic Wine have this at £9.99. For once I feel that I am not getting a bottle marked up beyond belief.

If you are a fan of Marlborough SB or you have never tried them and are looking for a cracking bottle of wine at a really good price then get yourself to E-Mart. While there you could pick up one of the Lawsons Pinot's as well.

So, having debased my wine blog with talk of beer snacks we are now back on track. Coming next are a Crianza Rioja from Emart and a Viognier(Vee On Nyey) from Shindong wine.