I was down in Richmond, Virginia, over the weekend. The occasion was, sadly, the funeral of my wonderful mother-in-law. But there is a happier side to such occasions, and that is the reunion of relatives from all over the country.
For dinner on Sunday we went to a restaurant called The Hard Shell,in Richmond's Shockoe Slip area. (This wine is not on the online list.) As you can tell, the restaurant leans hard on seafood -- oysters, crab, mussels, lobster, etc. -- all the good things Italians call frutti di mare. Our reunion crowd of ten had a wonderful time remembering dear old Gert, reminiscing about our own lives and drinking toasts to Gert and each other. ("I'll drink to that!" has always been my sister-in-law's battle cry.)
Anyway, back to the point...
Holding a wine list heavy on oaked California wines, I told the waitress that I wanted a white with little or no oak. She recommended the Whitehaven Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. I groaned inwardly, thinking, "Not again!" But she brought a glass for me and for my son, and we both went "Wow."
This SB has an almost mineral core to it, so dry and clean it is at the finish. Balanced, without that residue of excessive sugar that puts me off a lot of New Zealand wines of this type. And it lacked something that has become all too familiar to drinkers of Kiwi Savvy Blank, that infamous cat's pee smell. This simple but well-made wine complemented the meal very nicely. So nicely that, after a couple of glasses, I ordered a bottle for the rest of the table to try.
This Whitehaven stuff is worth seeking out. To me at least it's a cut above all the other New Zealand SBs I've had. At around $16-17, it costs more than stalwarts like Villa Maria or Matua. But it's that much better.
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