There are two kinds of New Zealand sauvignon blanc. The $10-$12 wines are full of citrus flavors and aroma, usually grapefruit, and not much else. The $15-$18 wines are more sophisticated – the citrus is still there, but it’s not as overwhelming, and there is more taste in the middle and a better finish.
Both are fine styles of wine, and the Wine Curmudgeon drinks a lot of each. But I really get excited when I find a New Zealand wine that has the qualities of the second group at more or less the price of the first group. Such is the Matua, which retails for around $13.
It has lots of New Zealand-style citrus up front, as much lime as grapefruit. It’s not subtle, but it’s not supposed to be. What’s best, though, is that the Matua has a wonderful, pineapply-y middle. There still isn’t much of a finish, but that’s hardly a problem.
Drink this, chilled, on its own, or with almost any chicken or seafood dish, short of something spicy or with a big cream sauce.
This is very bad wine, I would pay 1 penny for another bottle. The citrus flavor of grapefruit might pucker your lips, but maybe great for cooking. Good Luck, let me know how it works outs.
Posted by: smannis@yahoo.com | December 25, 2009 at 10:13 PM
Thanks for the comment. That's one of the things I love about wine -- two people can taste the exact same things in a wine, and disagree on whether they like it. By the way, if you don't like the wine, don't cook with it. Just dump it. It you don't like it by itself, you aren't going to like it in food.
Posted by: Jeff Siegel | December 26, 2009 at 09:47 AM
Wonderfull wine .Got it at Costco for $7.97 bottle .
Not in Cloudy Bay class butfor price it was great find .
Posted by: annandted@hotmail.com | February 05, 2010 at 04:13 PM