If there was a wine that put New Zealand on the world class wine level, it was undoubtedly sauvignon blanc.  Crisp, refreshing, and full of gooseberry and tropical fruits, these wines are great partners for seafood, but are they great partners when they’re from the bottom shelf?  Cooper’s Creek has put in their two-cents with their 2009 showing.

Sight:  Very pale, but starting to develop a very blonde straw color.  Minuscule touches of green.

Smell: Nectarine, lemon pith, and wet stone greet the nose openly, while limes and unripe apricots hover to the sides.  The wine has almost a smell of beach and surf to it from the minerality.

Sip:  Slightly grassy, and with a heavy mouth feel, lemon pith is the most overwhelming characteristic.  There are touches of peach and grapefruit, but unfortunately it fails to carry through the minerality from the smell.  Very heavy, somehow crisp without being refreshing.[ABV 13%]

Savor:  Where’d it go?  There isn’t much to report on the aftertaste, as it disappeared in a faint puff of citrus, much a like a magician making an exit.

Price: 9.95

This isn’t necessarily a bad sauvignon blanc, it has a rather different, but not unpleasant bouquet.  The problem is it just can’t quite seem to pull those aromas through the somewhat flabby mouth feel.  It does liven up a bit with seafood, but not really well off for drinking on it’s own.

Marlborough, New Zealand
www.cooperscreek.co.nz