Review: The Crossings 2011 Sauvignon Blanc

I know it has been quite some time since I've posted...rest assured I've been drinking plenty of wine in this time, I just haven't been posting (or taking notes!). My long overdue, latest post is The Crossings 2011 Sauvignon Blanc from the Awatere Valley in Marlborough.

My first issue was in opening this wine. I know this seems trivial to mention, and it very well could have been a user error or an extra tight cap, but this was a TOUGH cap to open. It took two people to get in to this wine. I wish I could say it was worth all the work, but this wine was good, not great.

The bottle was a sea glass color, which I found small issue with because I wasn't able to see the true color of the wine. It made it appear green, a bit off-putting if you're in to that sort of thing. Either way, once it was poured in the glass, it was incredibly pale. It made me think the company might add a bit of color to the bottle glass itself so the wine doesn't appear watery to a potential customer (you can see the blue/green tint at the bottom of the photo). Smart!

The initial nose on this wine was lovely...very stereotypical, just as I've mentioned many times before. It had crisp citrus notes, but one thing I noted was the nose wasn't very strong. Upon first sip, this wine was incredibly acidic and had a very strong bite on the tongue. It had a smooth finish but left your tongue feeling like it had been jolted by a very bold flavor. I personally didn't care for it.

Other things I noticed:
-the wine was not sweet
-it was very tangy & a little bitter

The finish on this wine was medium length and very pleasant, once the acidity wears off, which was actually fairly quickly. Would I drink this wine everyday? No. But I could see it pairing with certain foods really well, like desserts, to calm down any high sugar content with its high acidity.

I would recommend trying this wine at least once, as it is quite different from many other NZ Sauv Blancs I've had so far. Who knows, maybe this wine will be your favorite?

The Crossings Sauvignon Blanc 2011 Notes:
www.thecrossings.co.nz
Region: Marlborough, Awatere Valley (Awatere River, just south of Cloudy Bay)
Alcohol by Volume: 13.0%
Bottle Notes: "Our Sauvignon Blanc is racy and bright. Pink grapefruit and passionfruit flavors layer with lemon-lime acidity and minerality signature of the Awatere Valley."

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Cheers!