WTN: Quartet of Sauvignon Blanc with tapas

A tasting at Elliott's on Linden, Pinehurst last Friday.
2006 Roland Tissier Sancerre S.B.
Pale color. Citrus (grapefruit?) with a hint of peach. Nicely balanced and crisp. Nice aroma.

2007 Sauvignon Blanc from Sauvignon Republic (specialize in S.B. from different regions, South Africa, Russian River Valley, Marlborough, N.Z. etc.) this was from Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Slightly musty wet fur odor. Corked? To my surprise others at my table and the sommelier liked it. I thought it had a strange flavor also. My least favorite of the four wines (although I have enjoyed other S.B. from South Africa.)

2007 Groth S.B. Napa Valley, CA
Not getting a lot of aroma. Rather blah. Sommelier admitted that this isn't the best representative of domestic S.B.

2008 Cloudy Bay, S.B., Marlborough, New Zealand
In past Carolina Wine Company blind tastings of Bedford Road S.B. and Cloudy Bay, I've always prefered the Bedford Road (as the majority of the CWC customers did.) This time I liked the Cloudy Bay quite well and bought a bottle of this pricy S.B. (about $30) as well as a bottle of the Tissier Sancerre (about $20.) The nose was not very grassy or vegetal (of cat's pee/ammonia either.) More citrus and hay? Balanced but not particularly minerally or crisp. I will open at home with a Bedford Road (from 2006--hope it hasn't lost all its freshness) and see which I prefer.

I stayed for dinner but went with a cocktail rather than more wine. They didn't have the raspberry-infused vodka with basil this time (another raspberry vodka drink called Summer Sunset) so I tried the pineapple-infused rum with muddled strawberries and rosemary. Good but I liked the "Heather" cocktail from last time better. I may try the Summer Sunset next time if it remains on the drinks list.

[Jenise]

Blah Groth? Interesting. I remember tasting the 07 last year and finding it full of cat pee. Nothing blah there--hard to imagine that fading out so completely by now. Wonder how our two experiences could be so different?

Never heard of Sauvignon Republic. Do they go those places and make the wine, or do they import bulk juice or buy surplus or what, was there more information?

[David M. Bueker]

"Sauvignon Republic" - no country for David Bueker.

[Jenise]

"Sauvignon Republic" - no country for David Bueker.

Has there ever been even one you liked?

[David M. Bueker]

Way back I tried a bottle from Didier Dagueneau (I know I didn't spell that right) that I liked, and there have been a couple that I didn't want to spit out, but none that ever made me want to buy any.

The 2007 Groth S.B. may have been an off bottle,. I definitely didn't get the cat's pee/ammonia odor.

I looked up Sauvignon Republic website. Four founders including John Ash and winemakers associated with Fife Vineyards and former president of Fetzer Vineyards. It doesn't say if they purchase the grapes or the bulk juice or what. They express commitment to becoming THE experts on Sauvignon Blanc and involvement with the slow food movement. They will use only Stelvin closures for their S.B.

http://www.sauvignonrepublic.com/about.html