November 24th, 2010
Marketing experts at major NZ wineries are asking you a question?
What question? Have you heard of Sauvignon Gris?
Seemingly over a very short time transition……..has the nomenclature of this above “new to NZ” variety changed?
No it hasn’t – the bottle above is from the one grape variety, whereas the bottle below is a new blend winemakers are testing out on the public of New Zealand.
The bottle I brought the other day is above, and its official blended title is the mouthful of “Sauvignon Blanc / Pinot Gris.”
Kim Crawford also had a similarly named drop I tried earlier. And Selaks have one too.
I spoke before of where the name Sauvignon Gris came from…….now this new blend may just confuse the issue even more?
I was first introduced to Pinot Gris nearly 10 years ago – at a small vineyard about 5 – 10 kms south of the Cookie Time factory near Christchurch.
Then some months ago I posted that I had just sampled my first glass of Sauvignon Gris, which is not at first what it seems. As I explained then, its was definitely not in fact a blend of the two formerly named varieties at all. Went very well with a Salmon salad.
With all the extra capacity currently in the vineyards, it probably makes sense to introduce new blends for Summer 2010 – 2011.
So don’t get confused when shopping for a bottle of wine for Xmas.
FURTHER INFO
Montana Sauvignon Gris Tasting Notes Sheet
Montana Sauvignon Blanc / Pinot Gris Tasting Notes Sheet
Selaks Sauvignon Blanc / Pinot Gris details / Tasting Notes