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Mount Riley Seventeen Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2009 Michael Cooper's Buyers Guide to New Zealand Wines 2012 Built to last, the 2009 vintage (****) is a fleshy, single-vineyard wine, hand-picked in the Wairau Valley and fermented with indigenous yeasts in seasoned French oak barrels. Fresh, full-bodied and finely textured, it is slightly creamy and toasty, with sweet-fruit delights, tropical-fruit flavours, gentle acidity, and excellent complexity and richness. Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 90 points The 2009 17 Valley Sauvignon Blanc is barrel fermented with indigenous yeast. Presenting pronounced grapefruit, passion fruit, nettle and dried thyme aromas with a subtle toasty/creamy character, it's a very interesting style with an appealing funky edge. Concentrated yet medium bodied, the layered palate is crisp and zesty with some savoury characters and a long steely finish. Drinking perfectly now, it should hold without fading much to 2013. Bobswinereviews.com, Bob Campbell, Master of Wine Rich, mouth filling wine with stone fruit, floral and toasty lees characters. Elegant and concentrated wine with slightly subdued varietal flavours but oozing complexity and sophistication. 4 stars Winestate Magazine, July 2010 Built to last, this tightly structured, single-vineyard wine was hand-picked in the Wairau Valley and fermented with indigenous yeasts in seasoned French oak barrels. Fresh, full-bodied and youthful, it is finely textured, slightly creamy and toasty, with sweet-fruit delights, tropical fruit flavours and gentle acidity. Mount Riley Seventeen Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2006 Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine, February 2008, Bob Campbell MW, 91 Points Barrel-fermented wine with extra complexity from biscuity yeast lees. Rich with good mouthfeel and flavour concentration. Top example of the oak-influenced style that still allows varietal flavours to shine. Winestate Magazine, November 2007, 4 1/2 Stars Softly seductive style, hand-picked and fermented with indigenous yeasts in seasoned oak barriques. Very ripely scented, with tropical-fruit flavours showing lovely ripeness and roundness and slightly nutty, leesy characters adding complexity and richness. Drink now. Franklin Life 11 November 2007
In previous articles reference has been made to the complexity and development of New Zealand sauvignon blanc... This week's focus wine is from hand-picked grapes from the Waihopai and Wairau Valleys in Marlborough. Fermentation was ignited by indigenous yeasts and it spent four months on its lees for complexity. This wine has the buttermilk texture of a truely classy white. Put this on the table and be part of the revolution. Full-bodied, fruit-focused wine that’s now developed appealing toasty characters from bottle age. Still very fresh but much more integrated and interesting than it was on first release. A very classy Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. |