Fresh fruit on the nose but not much sauvignon character. More typical in the mouth with a bit of grip.

tasted 12/10/06

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mel

Spier is a "factory wine" - I much prefer Zondernaam (literally "without a name") Sauvignon Blanc on sale at Majestic (I have no financial interest!). It is made at the Tokara Estate by the same wine making team as make Thelema wines and the grapes come from the cool climate area of Elgin near to Walker Bay.

I agree with you about Spier - they do make some fairly ropey wine. One to definitely avoid though, which I tried at the Co-op's tasting yesterday is Las Moras Sauvignon Blanc 2006 from Argentina. It's ?5.99 and is the worst Sauvignon I have ever tasted.

While the Spier wine is low on aroma and not a beautiful example of the grape, it's not actually unpleasant.

Las Moras has a very cheap looking label, which appears to be part of the Co-op's mission, since most of their own label wines are similarly attired. The smell is of cat, which we might expect, but this is like council block stairwells - the ones that actually make you grunt or groan, out loud. The taste is the same, but with a touch of tab end as well. Almost worth buying a bottle just to experience another way of life.

A truly dreadful wine.

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mel

Talking about Soth America reminds me that a clsoe run thing with the Zondernaam is Montes Reserve Sauvignon Blanc from the Casablanca Valley in Chile which is lovely and zingy with all the appropriate notes of the grape without being "too New World". It is on sale in Majestic and Tesco at around ?7.

I think I remember this wine Mel. Co-op offers are usually hit or miss, the Las Moras Cab Sauv they had on offer a month or two back was actually pretty good QPR, off the top of my head I think one of the bigger producers are behind the label, Finca Flichman possibly?

the winemaker is daniel ekkert and the website is infuriating, so i'm not sure if they are owned by flichman. I also tasted the cab on tuesday

Inviting, concentrated bramble smell. Quite sweet, which is a pity, becuase it has good tannin balance and isn't a bad wine. Needs food.

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mel

I'm pretty sure Finca Flichman and Finca lasmoras are not related. They have separate websites on which there is no mention of the other.

Finca is a common part of the name for Argentine wineries since it means estate or farm in Spanish. For example there is a Finca Flinchman winery.

I must confess that I'm partial to Las Moras Viognier.