Surprise, surprise, we’re reviewing yet another Chilean sauvignon blanc.  This one is from Montes, a relatively young Chilean producer having started their production in 1987.  I know that may not seem young to some of you, but compared to Chilean wine producers that were established in 1885 it’s young to me.

This sauvignon blanc is from their “Limited Selection” line of wines, one of several lines they produce.   And it comes from Leyda Valley.

The nose is a nice blend of vegetal and tropical with aromas of cut grass, nettles, lime and mango.  The flavors are well balanced and similar to the aromas, plus a pronounced mineral characteristic.  You’ll also find lemon and green apple flavors in the fruit family plus a subtle green bean flavor underneath that which add even more complexity beyond the fruit and mineral flavors.  A citrus note lingers on the finish.  It’s a really nice sauvignon blanc, particularly for those who don’t want over-the-top tropical fruit flavors.

Wine: Montes Limited Selection
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 89
Price: $15.00

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Here’s what others thought of the this wine:

• YumSugar
• ABC Wine Reviews
• Canadian Wine Guy
• Barrysentials Wine Blog

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

The history of Undurraga goes all the way back to 1885 when Don Francisco Undurraga brought vines over from France and Germany to establish the estate.  But in more recent history, the Undurraga family left the business in 2006 after a dispute with their business partners.  The Picciotto family took over the estate and has since focused on improving the quality of the wines.

Undurraga is one of the largest producers in Chile.  They now have several brands of wine, one of which is T.H., which stands for Terroir Hunter.  These are wines meant to express a particular location, or “terroir,” and there are actually three different types of sauvignon blanc offered under the T.H. brand.  This one is from the Leyda sector of San Antonio, but they also have one from Casablanca and one from Lo Abarca.  I suppose it would be interesting to sample and compare all three, but alas I only have the one from Leyda to taste.

There’s pretty good intensity on the nose of this sauvignon blanc.  It has  “cooling” aromas to it, like green pepper, green bean and wet stones.  But there are also some wafts of citrus underneath all that.  The citrus really pops on the palate, which has plenty of lemon, grapefruit and a touch of mango.  It finishes with a cool lemon/lime flavor that has good length.

Wine: T.H. Leyda
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 87
Price: $16.00

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

Cono Sur is a Chilean wine brand that I’ve grown to trust for good to very good wines, but I have yet to taste one of their wines that blows me away as exceptional.  Yet, I’ll take that good consistency as an attribute for which they deserve credit.  And while I don’t recall ever looking at a Cono Sur wine and saying, “Yes! That’s my favorite!” I do know that when I’m offered one of their wines my expectation is that it will be good.

If there is a particular Cono Sur wine that you want to check out, you do need to pay attention to the name as they have several different lines of wine.  This one is from their “Organic” line, which you can identify at a glance by the bicycle on the label.

It’s a little bit restrained on the nose, but very nice nonetheless.  There’s a wet stone aroma that is cool and calming, and it just makes me smile.  There’s also soft citrus and a little bit of vegetal aroma, but not much.  The acidity and mouth feel are spot on.  This one has a lot of green apple flavor and a little bit of lemon.  The apple lasts well into the finish.  Consistent with my general take on Cono Sur wine, I like this one a lot but it doesn’t totally blow me away.

Wine: Cono Sur Organic
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 86
Price: $13.00

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Here’s what others thought of the this wine:

• Drinkhacker
• Under the Grape Tree

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

Although I often say that Chilean sauvignon blanc is my favorite, New Zealand is right up there too.  And, to cut to the chase, this Brancott sauvignon blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand totally kicks ass.

Those who know me, know that I’m always critical of myself.  I constantly question my performance at work, play, or whatever I do, which motivates me to study more, practice more and employ rigorous processes around everything that I do.  Some might consider this to be neurotic, but knowing about the Dunning-Kruger effect, I consider self doubt to be a good thing.

I mention all that to say that my self doubt also comes into play when I’m reviewing wines.  I spend a good 15-20 minutes per wine when I’m taking tasting notes to be sure that I’m doing justice to the wines.  And when I taste a really good or really bad one, I come back to try it again later to make sure that I wasn’t just having a fluke moment with my palate.  Yet, with all this self doubt I do have some validating moments that reassure me that I’m doing things right — or at least consistent with others — and reviewing this wine was one of those moments.

I first tasted this wine as a part of a blind tasting and it instantly stood out to me as an outstanding wine.  I ended up giving it 91 points. I shared it with some colleagues the next day, along with a few other wines, and I told them that this one was exceptional.  I didn’t even realize until a few moments ago, when I sat down to write up this post, that this wine was #28 on Wine Spectator’s top 100 list from last year.  They gave it a 92.  I’m glad to see that we’re aligned on this one and it does give me some validation to see that my rating is pretty consistent with one of the established “authorities” on wine.

The price of this wine might be toward the top end of the price range for bargain hunters, but it might be worth a few extra bucks if you’re into sauvignon blanc.

This wine screams “New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc” with intense grassy and tropical fruit aromas.  The acidity is outstanding, giving this wine a brightness on the tongue.  I know that may sound weird, but it’s the best way to describe it.  Pineapple, grapefruit, mango and melon flavors explode in your mouth and last for minutes on the finish.  The intensity and concentration from this wine is incredible.  This is an exceptional sauvignon blanc.

Wine: Brancott Reserve
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 91
Price: $19.00

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Here’s what others thought of the this wine:

• From the Gutt
• Canadian Wine Guy
• Gabe’s View

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

This morning I was watching the news and this video came on of a bull in Spain jumping up into the stands and chasing spectators.  When I saw the bull leap into the stands, I immediately thought of the Dancing Bull logo.  So, tonight we review a sauvignon blanc from Dancing Bull.

But first, here’s the video of that bull “dancing” all over some spectators.

The Dancing Bull Sauvignon Blanc is a California SB, and that’s as specific as the appellation gets.  That means that grapes for this wine were sourced from various regions in California, but most came from the Central Coast and Sonoma County.  Now, California isn’t typically my top pick for sauvignon blanc.  I’ve had a few from California that I’ve liked, but I’ve found that I generally have better luck with those from Chile or New Zealand.  So given that California isn’t my top pick for this variety and this is not an appellation specific wine, I wasn’t really expecting much from this wine, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Grapefruit, artichoke, green apple and tropical fruit aromas give this wine good character and complexity on the nose.  It has great acidity on the palate with refreshing citrus flavors like grapefruit and lime.  The finish is crisply acidic too, and there’s kind of a salty citrus aftertaste, like a margarita from a salted rim glass.  All told, this is a nice, tropical sauvignon blanc.

Wine: Dancing Bull
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 86
Price: $12.00

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Here’s what others thought of the this wine:

• Cork’d
• Cellartracker

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

This isn’t the first time we’ve reviewed the Veramonte Reserva Sauvignon Blanc.  The 2008 vintage was exceptional.  It’s one of those wines that was memorable and thus became a “go t0″ wine.  If we needed a good Sauvignon Blanc and didn’t want to put much thought to it, Veramonte was our choice.  And with this affinity for Veramonte Sauvignon Blanc, we was thrilled to taste the 2009 vintage.

But this is where I get to make a point that it is important to note the vintage, because while the 2009 vintage of this wine is good, it’s not quite the mind-blowing experience that the 2008 was… OK, I might be going overboard with the “mind-blowing” language, but I’m a geek, I get excited about good wines.

Veramonte is a Chilean wine, and from the Casablanca Valley — where most of our favorite Chilean Sauvignon Blanc comes from.

Grapefruit, wet stones, melon and a touch of fresh cut grass give this Sauvignon Blanc refreshing aromas.  It’s super-citrusy on the palate with fresh squeezed grapefruit and lemon flavors that give you a slight pucker, but some melon flavors mellow it out. The mid-palate brings Granny Smith apple flavors that last into the finish where you’ll also get a reprise of lemon.  This is a mega-citrus example of Sauvignon Blanc and with that I’d recommend enjoying this with Tuna Tartare.  Yum.

Wine: Veramonte
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 86
Price: $11.00

Find Veramonte Reserva Sauvignon Blanc with Snooth

Here’s what others thought of the this wine:

• About.com
• Serious Eats
• Cellartracker

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

It should come as no surprise to anyone whose been reading this site for some time that Chile is one of our favorite regions for Sauvignon Blanc.  But what you might not have noticed is that our favorite Chilean SB (shorthand for Sauvignon Blanc) usually come from the Casablanca Valley region.   But with this wine from Haras, we found an SB from Maipo Valley to get excited about.

Haras de Pirque made its first wines in the 2000 vintage, but the history of the property goes back a little further.  The owner, Eduardo A. Matte, purchased the estate in 1991, when it was just a thoroughbred horse farm.  He has since improved the horse farm and, obviously, launched the winery.  You may notice the horse images on their packaging, a reflection of the dual-mission of the estate — to breed exceptional horses and produce distinctive wines.

“Tangy, tangy, tangy” was the first thing I said when I smelled this wine.  But as I explore it further, I find that there’s quite a bit going on with this wine… quite a bit that I like.  Cool melon, flint and citrus aromas are most prevalent.  It has a touch of green to it, which smells somewhat like tomato leaf.  The palate is filled with lemon, melon and apple flavors.  The acidity is nice and crisp, nearly perfect.  This is a very good SB.

Wine: Haras de Pirque
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 13%
Rating: 88
Price: $12.00

Find Haras Sauvignon Blanc with Snooth

Here’s what others thought of the this wine:

• Wino Magazine
• The Bottle Report
• My Wine Education

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.