http://www.majestic.co.uk/find/category-is-Wine/category-is-New+Zealand/Colour-is-White+Wine/category-is-Marlborough/Grape+Variety-is-Sauvignon+Blanc

http://www.tesco.com/winestore/controller.aspx?Nr=70002&N=5466+60510&No=0&Ne=5&catTitle=Sauvignon+Blanc

http://www.waitrosewine.com/Shopping/ProductFinder.aspx?ARA=Special+Offers&CAT=Special+Offers&SCT=Special+Offers&PRT=White+Wine&PRTID=1887&Id=7&PFFilter=Region%3aNew+Zealand%7cVariety+%2f+Blend%3aSauvignon+Blanc%7cWine+colour%3aWhite

Goosegogs.

I apologise immediately for setting you a task in qualifying a few of the Malborough SB's from the above links that you have tried. Wines that you feel are particularly good value, yet wines that pass our test for being memorable and alluring, and ones that have an element of discovery and hidden depth or extra dimension.

If you say: Get lost mate, I'm far too busy. I wouldn't blame you one little bit.

I'm in the market again for a few.... I've drunk all the Reach 2007 and 6 x The Crossings 2007 and a few of the Villia Maria cellar selection 2007's and have 3 x Montana Reserve 2007's left. Only 9 x MSB'S 2007's left. All these of course having been rated by you.

It is time to score, before the 2007's are gone. Are you rating Malborogh 2008's, or are you now, more climatised to the 2008 vintage characteristic

I'm of the opinion now, that good and concentrated 2007 MSB's will survive to March 2010 if kept in the dark at predominantly less than 50 degrees F.

Are you in the mood ? mention only 3 or so, and not more than say £11 each on a multi buy

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Duncan

Dunc,

Am just off out to Cardiff Blues v Glasgow. Will be back around midnight. Will reply either around 1.00am or if i'm too shattered to log on then tomorrow morning at the latest.

Enjoy the match

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Duncan

Waitrose

Jackson Estate 2007 £7.59

Concentrated herbaceous flavours. Offer price is a real bargain. This is fine wine.

Tesco

Sileni The Sounds 2007 £10.19

Stunning wine but quite light. Really not sure that this will hold up for long. Last bottle was a bit lame.

Majestic

Saint Clair Pioneer Block 6 2008 £11.99x2

' Saint Clair Pioneer Block 6 'Oh!' Sauvignon Blanc 2008
(sc) Scents of passionfruit, lime and boxwood/ cat pee escape from the bottle as soon as the screwcap is removed and the taste is full of exotic tropical fruit together with a fumé / cut grass note. The texture is smooth, rich and creamy and there's an increasingly salty finish that gets the taste buds salivating. Delicious but not overpowering - just perfect. 19.5/20. 5Sep2008......Sue Courtney Wine of the Week '

Multi Gold medal winner already...stunning but expensive.

Possibly Saint Clair's best ever wine

I have two in my celler. Anyone who opens them by mistake...dies...slowly.

The average price for the three wines is less than the £11 you mentioned

Avoid Grove Mill, Stoneleigh,Villa Maria Private Bin, Spy Mountain and Tesco Finest Highfield Estate. All heavy going..

Many, many thanks for your evaluation. Excellent advice, I'm certain of that. I shall nip into Waitrose as well as Majestic. To see if they are on the shelf for the same money. Otherwise I shall order before they are gone.

BWT - Hope you enjoyed the Match, Cardiff Blues, is that Rugby by any chance, Enjoyed seeing Wales play last week, felt quite sorry for Scotland, they were totally out classed on that occasion.

Great MSB advise , I'm looking forward to stashing as well as quaffing a few.

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Duncan

Yes, Cardiff Blues is rugby....we hope to win at least one trophy this season.

Funny world is this. Just taking a break from a dinner party. We the hosts have put out Cloudy Bay 2008 and a Didier Dagueneau Pouilly Fumé Silex 2005.....my last one !

The Cloudy Bay is stunning but not compared to the Silex which is full of smoke and citrus and is sheer heaven.

Silex btw is a flint rich soil very different to the chalky kimmeridgian soil of neighbouring Sancerre

Our guests brought two bottles of bloody Oyster Bay. The first was a lame duck. Lemon sherbet with a hint of elderflower. The second is very nettley and wonderful.

How odd !

Maybe i'm just drunk..

Goosegogs

We'll talk about the Pouilly fume in the morning, I've been saving 2 x 2005's for this Spring as well, believing that, or expecting for the smoke and the flint to come more to the fore. Knocking Cloudy bay off it's perch takes some doing.

The Kimmeridge geological seam /strata is mainly responsible for central and western Chablis terroir, you have extended my understanding of this strata when related to Sancerre characteristics. I know what you mean by a dinner party intercourse break G. Because no one smokes in the house anymore, I nip out to the office if I really fancy one - Yeah I know, a sign of weakness. I'm sure those bloody things cause my taste buds to go walkies occasionally.

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Duncan

Having googled Silex 2005, I'm not surprised that Cloudy Bay keeled over immediately.
I wonder which pinot noir he's enjoying on that occasion ?

Your good guests were treated to something extremely rare and very fine. Were you celebrating an important decade ? One since your ano domini ?
I always share my best wines with my best and dearest mates. I have to be careful to ensure that the wonderfull cullinary efforts of my dear Misses are not eclipsed by wine banter and reverence.

Silex 2005, one of the best SB's on the planet, but sadly, after the microlight accident, may never be made with quite the same dedication

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Duncan

The world of sauvignon lost it's biggest star when Didier died.

Hopefully though those who worked with him will carry on where he left off.

That said, Henri Pelle of Menetou Salon fame handed over the winemaking to his family when he bacame ill a couple of years ago and the wines have not been the same since. All citrus and no minerals. Like glorified Touraines.

Didier always reckoned that his Pouilly Fume Pur Sang was his best. I've never tried it.

No I wasn't celebrating any birthday. But I just couldn't resist opening the 2008 Cloudy Bay. It really is some wine. Concentrated flavour but not full bodied or heavy. I still rate the Clifford Bay above it though.

The two PF's I kept back were ordinary de Ladoucette, not the Baron.

I want to hear more about Didier's Silex 2005 Pouilly Fume' .....just for now, lets park Marlborough, and know more about one the world's rare and exotic gems. The label is very different for starters.

When you have a moment Mr G, say a bit more about this wine, an SB that will live on for 10 years or so.

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Duncan

The two PF's I kept back were ordinary de Ladoucette, not the Baron.

I want to hear more about Didier's Silex 2005 Pouilly Fume' .....just for now, lets park Marlborough, and know more about one the world's rare and exotic gems. The label is very different for starters.

When you have a moment Mr G, say a bit more about this wine, an SB that will live on for 10 years or so.

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Duncan

The Silex is oaked and I am not a fan of oak in sauvignon. I once went to Blumenthal's Hinds Head pub next to the famous Fat Duck in Bray and had Henri Bourgeois' top Sancerre. It was oaked and the oak was sweet and peachy like a St Aubin Burgundy..

I was not happy..

But the oak in this has a very different effect on the wine. It's savoury with oatmeal and apple flavoured biscuits with a creamy texture. Lemon and something not flinty but still smokey takes over when the wine warms up.

I am not doing this wine justice. The wine had a strange smell of flowers and apples. But the oatmealy taste was the most memorable thing.

The basic Ladoucette is wonderful too. The last I had was a 2004. This though is in a different league.

Very interesting read here chaps. Great work

Mr G, Sounds like you had a cracking weekend with the high scoring game on Friday and the "SB fest" on Saturday
Interesting on the differences on the 2 bottles of Oyster bay.

Just following up on your mentioning of oaked SB.... I picked up a couple of bottles of 2005 Cloudy Bay Te Koko while they were in stock at Waitrose a little while back. Not had my SB pals round yet to give it a go but am looking forward to trying a bottle. Wondering if you've had a go at it yourself ? (know you say you're not a fan of oaked SB so is a bit of a shot in the dark)

Mr G has done all the work. Shelling out for Silex 2005 is not for the novice or idiot banker at a bonus party. G has investigated sauvignon blanc to a high level, and honed flavours and terroir down to a point where he can quickly and easily distinguish the magic / art and alchemy of some producers from run of the mill and hyped stuff. My input on this matter is basically that of a student, I've asked questions, that is all. G has pointed me in the right direction, and now I recon I know where a half decent SB may be found without necessarily falling into the traps set by the marketing boys.

The secret to the Oatmeal notes in the Silex must be down to new oak treatment of some kind, may be for a short period just after secondary fermentation, long periods in barrel would be far too resinous and dominating. Perhaps Didier internally steams out his new barrels to dissipate some of that green and astringent resin. Loads of secrets that won't be told

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Duncan

I have tasted oatmeal before. Saint Clair Vicar's Choice Marlborough sb 2005. Passion fruit with a vague hint of oatmeal that lingered on the aftertaste for minutes. The wine had only about 5% oak fermentation. The 2006 was very different. Blackcurrent leaf and an aftertaste identical to the smell of a raw green pepper. The green pepper like aftertaste had faded on all bottles by the time the wine was no more than 15 months old.

I am still not convinced, Dunc, that unoaked sauv will last for more than two years. The best unoaked Loires might but not Marlborough.

As for the Te Koko. Sorry, I haven't tried it and the tasting notes that I have found all talk of sweet oak. Yet, they are still mostly complementary .

I do have a Jackson Estate Grey Ghost 2006 £14.99. I will open it in 2011.

Hopefully the oak will have softened to reveal something wonderful. If not I will give up on oaked Marlboroughs.

Mel btw has a lot of tasting notes for oaked Bordeaux. I have never found a Bordeaux that appealed to me but then I have never taken the appellation all that seriously so have avoided shelling out big money.

Dourthe no 1 is the best that i've had. But it's nothing wonderful.....all citrus and nowt else.

Mel will hate me...she loves it