Dog Point Section 94 2008

Drinks Biz (June/July 2010) 

Reviewed by Joelle Thomson, Editor

'One chilly autumn night, a friend blind-tasted me on five fresh new 2009 Marlborough sauvignon blancs and one from 2008. After the customary swirling, sniffing and sipping, I poured myself a glass of the best of the half dozen whites. It was the 2008 Dog Point Section 94. It's one of Marlborough's most unusual whites because it's anything but tutti fruity, but it is sauvignon blanc. This is a full-bodied, two-year-old white, which I was surprised to enjoy.... er, a rather decent quantity of. It was just too drinkable.

Dog Point is owned by winemakers James Healy and Ivan Sutherland, both former Cloudy Bay employees, who were determined to take Marlborough and New Zealand's best-known white in an interesting new direction. Hence it is called 'Section 94' rather than labelled as a varietal. I love this wine, which defies all the usual pigeon holes.'