Dog Point Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2010
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Parker
Robert
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Winemaker Notes
Pairs well with seafood – especially oysters, scallops and mussels, but also salads, white meats and mild cheeses. Cellaring Ideally enjoyed young, but may be cellared for several years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
20% of Dog Point's 2010 Sauvignon Blanc was naturally fermented. It offers expressive notes of fresh grapefruit, lemon zest, kumquat and under-ripe pineapple with hints of bay leaf, fennel seed and baking bread. Medium bodied with a wonderful concentration of citrus, tropical and spice flavors, it gives a great backbone of refreshing acidity and a long yeasty finish. Drink it now to 2014.
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Almost since its inception, Dog Point has been recognized as among the very top (arguably the very top) wine producers in New Zealand. Their two very different Sauvignon Blancs, their Pinot Noir and their Chardonnay are all wines of astounding quality and complexity not just in the context of New Zealand wines, but globally. Their wines are hand-crafted from estate fruit grown on some of the oldest vines and best sites in Marlborough, some plantings dating back to the 1970s. These older well-established vines situated on free draining silty clay loams are supplemented with fruit from closely planted hillside vines. Yields are low, and the grapes are hand-harvested. That’s our attempt at an understated New Zealand statement: few hand-pick fruit in New Zealand (95% is machine-harvested), and Dog Point’s Sauvignon Blanc yields, for example, are 50% below the average for the region.
Dog Point’s focus on pruning, soil health through organic farming, use of native yeasts and for one wine selected neutral commercial yeasts, all point to a quality and detail-obsessed producer intimately familiar with its region. Dog Point is in fact the result of a collaboration between two Cloudy Bay alumni, enologist James Healy and founding viticulturalist Ivan Sutherland. Both left Cloudy Bay at the end of 2003, and the first vintage of Dog Point released was the 2002 vintage.
The winemaking is non-interventionist, and all the wines (with the exception of the stainless steel Sauvignon Blanc) are given extended barrel aging with minimal racking and handling. Bottling is done without fining and with minimal filtration. The resulting wines are intense, complex, with racy natural acidity and ripe, full fruit flavors.
The name Dog Point dates from the earliest European settlement of Marlborough and the introduction of sheep to the district. These were the days of few fences, of boundary riders and boundary-keeping dogs. Shepherds’ dogs sometimes became lost or wandered off and eventually bred into a wild pack. Their home was a tussock and scrub covered hill, overlooking the Wairau Plains, designated by the early settlers as Dog Point.
Recognized for its distinctively herbaceous and aromatic, Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand is perfectly suited to the grape with its maritime climate, plenty of rainfall and abundant sunshine. Producers have almost unilaterally embraced cutting-edge winery technology, resulting in clean, high-quality wines at every price point from wallet-friendly to premium. Sauvignon blanc is at its best in Marlborough but thrives throughout as the country. It is New Zealand’s most planted and successful variety, also accounting for an overwhelming majority of its exports.