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.

time will tell.....

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