Wine Wednesday, New from New Zealand

I thought Wine Wednesday would never get here! Last week, I got a call from Heather, one of my favorite wine reps, who began the conversation like this, "I know it's not Wednesday, but  you HAVE to meet this guy I'm driving around today and you HAVE to taste his wine."

Me, "Twist my arm, OK."

Jason Yank, Managing Director of Astrolabe Wines, had just arrived from New Zealand. Because of a tight travel schedule, I could not get him into the studio but gladly connected at Cru in Fort Myers for a tasting and a quick interview.

This wine is not only new to the Southwest Florida Market, but new to the entire state. It was hard to pick which of three I tasted to feature for Wine Wednesday. But I finally decided on Astrolabe's flagship, Sauvignon Blanc. It smelled grassy and fresh. One of the first things I tasted was jalapenos! Then some peach and passion fruit, YUM! The fruit and acidity were nicely balanced. It's a great warm weather wine that I envision drinking with a fish dish, containing some combination of cilantro and onions.

Yank also brought along a phenomenal Pinot Gris and a Pinot Noir; both now available in Florida. Some of the places they are being poured include Sweet Melissa's, Sunshine Cafe, Cibo, Twisted Vine Bistro, Bistro 41, Decanted and the Island Store. Yank talks about all three here:

Sassy Sauv Blancs!

I love drinking a great wine out of a brown bag! How ghetto fab! We have a "brown bag" group that is hosted by a different person every other month. We decide on a theme or a grape, everyone makes an appropriate purchase and puts it in a brown bag. With the identity of the wine concealed it leaves little chance for judgement based on perceived value or reputation.

This month the grape of choice was Sauvignon Blanc; no restrictions. Perfect choice for the begining of a long hot summer. We tasted several wines from France, New Zealand and California. After tasting all 7 we unveiled the wines worst to first. The top scorer in a narrow vote by .5 was a Clifford Bay from New Zealand followed by a French Sancerre from Christian Salmon. Both are pictured above. After the blindfolds were taken off the bottles and we tried these two top vote getters back-to-back, the Sancerre won outright!

The Sancerre's nose was bursting with pear, it was slightly effervescent, crisp and clean. The Clifford Bay was well balanced with lots of citrus and zest. Both wines come in at under $20 and a great buy for the hot summer months ahead! If you like citrus in your wine and a price under $10, you should try the Cupcake Sauvignon Blanc. Sooooo much lemon on the pallet and the label just so happens to be yellow to match!

One gentleman who attended our tasting apparently felt the need to assert his masculinity by saying "I can only be seen drinking white wine while the sun is up". Good thing for him the days are long in the summer!