Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc 2004
Many low-priced wines are undistinguished, but those good wines that should sell for more are real winners. When I taste wines for this column, not only do I run through dozens of bottles to glean just two or three, but I also make an effort not to know the asking prices. Oh, the information is literally at hand, but I don't look, instead, 1 play a game: ''What do I think this wine should sell for?'' Please note the ''Should'' part.
I know all too well what wines are, in fact, going for these days. (Short answer: too much.) Lately, the game has become a bit dismaying, as wine prices are skewed by the weak dollar, by an increasing degree of corporate ownership seeking higher margins and, it must be said, a decreasing level of individuality.
For example, I recently ran through a clutch of wines from Chile and Argentina, a number of them produced by much larger European wine companies seeking to expand the portfolios. Chile and Argentina are their preferred stomping grounds because land and grapes are cheap.
To a wine, they were predictable and dull. All were overly oaky, especially with the dime-store cologne of vanilla-scented American oak. None displayed any taste originality. They were safe. Predictable. Contrived, To borrow from the poet E.E. Cummings, these wines are a world of made, not a world of born. All wanted a wince inducing price of at least $15 a bottle.
Still, the game can go both ways. Occasionally, I'm delighted to discover something that sells for less than I think it should command. Such wines are rare, but when chanced upon, they make my week,
Mostly I'm gratified when I find what I think are truly original wines that are fairly valued, when the asking price is properly calibrated to the quality inside the bottle. These days, getting what you pay for is, actually, a deal.
Dog Point Vineyard ''Marlborough'' Sauvignon Blanc 2004: Whereas Argentina and Chile seem mired in producing taste-alike commodity wines, New Zealand continues to surge forward issuing ever more distinctive premium wines. This latest release from Dog Point Vineyard is convincing evidence of New Zealand's genuine originality.
It wasn't so long ago, maybe a decade or so, when the idea of a New Zealand wino seemed preposterous, (Oregon suffered a similar indignity.) Then came Cloudy Bay, a winery in the Marlborough district, which is the northernmost point of the South Island. Baby, it's cool down there.
Cloudy Bay's claim to fame, then and now, is a tingly sauvignon blanc, all bright fruit and bracing acidity. It took the wine world by storm -- and surprise. Subsequently, It was discovered that this taste originality was hardly exclusive to Cloudy Bay, that It was in fact a function of the cool climate and gravelly soils of the Marlborough district.
Dog Point Vineyard is one of the oldest vineyards in the Marlborough zone. It sold its grapes to others_ But starting in 2002, it began issuing wines under its own label. The winemaker, James Healy, was formerly the chief winemaker at Cloudy Bay.
Not surprisingly, given the confluence of Dog Point's proven grapes and Healy's experience, the wines are exceptional. This newly released 2004 sauvignon blanc is simply a world-beater.
Blessed with a delicate pale lime hue, this is sauvignon blanc as only New Zealand can do it: in other words, it has true originality. Dog Point Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2004 delivers cool climate flavors of citrus fruits, notably lemon rind, along with hints of tropical fruits such as guava. The acidity is bracing yet refreshing. And there's not a splinter of oak, either. What's more, the pristine flavors are kept that way thanks to a screw cap. (New Zealand wineries lead the world In using screw caps; more power to'em.)
Matt Kramer