Good ‘Old’ Sauvignon Blanc
1) 6 week old Sauvignon Blanc vines planted in 2013 in a vineyard on the outskirts of Siggiewi 2) Perfect Sauvignon Blanc grapes hand-picked from the 2015 harvest 3) Award winning 2013 vintage Gran Cavalier Sauvignon Blanc
Whereas older vintages of Chardonnay based wines won’t even raise an eyebrow amongst wine enthusiasts, mature, aged, Sauvignon Blanc’s have always been a contentious issue. Even famous Sauvignon’s like top of the range Sancerre and Pouilly Fume are not to everybody’s taste when aged , but there is little doubt that when they’re young and fresh, they are very hard to beat.
The simple truth behind this wine enigma is that whereas most Chardonnays age pretty well, even those of mediocre quality, only the ‘very best of the very best’ Sauvignon Blanc’s get better and develop into something spectacular. For example not all top-notch Loire Valley Sancerre get better with age, in fact more often than not the opposite is true. With age the wines change and develop into a different style of wine completely and it’s not always better than the younger ‘original’ version. The trick to finding the Sauvignon with good ageing potential is to stick to two things, always choose a good producer and only choose outstanding vintages – but even then nothing’s guaranteed.
There is no doubt that the Maltese Sauvignon Blanc is producing some very good young wines, as we at Delicata can readily corroborate. Our Gran Cavalier Sauvignon Blanc won three international awards last year and both of our two Sauvignon Blanc wines, Medina and Gran Cavalier, sell out each year, months before the next new vintage is available. But the ageing potential of Maltese Sauvignon Blanc wines is something else, and although this cool winemaking grape is performing well in hot climate winemaking countries like Malta and Sicily, it is a very ‘temperamental’ variety that needs particular conditions and a lot of attention. In Malta, due to our very consistent climate during the growing season, the quality of nearly all Maltese grapes, year-on –year, is very dependable. But within the varietal itself, the temperamental Sauvignon Blanc can waiver between good years and outstanding ones; three of those outstanding vintages for Delicata Sauvignon Blanc wines were 2004, 2007 and 2013.
Whether the 2015 vintage Sauvignon Blanc will turn out to be a ‘keeper’ or not, it’s a bit too early to tell at the time of writing this article, but having tasted it from the tank, just towards the end of its fermentation, it seems to tick all of the boxes, but we will just have to keep an eye on it over the coming weeks to see for sure. What we can tell you for sure – is that the 2004 and the 2013 vintages have kept really well (unfortunately remaining samples of the 2007 couldn’t be found) and are drinking beautifully. Having tasted them both recently, side by side, the tasting notes for these two ageing Gran Cavalier Sauvignon Blanc wines, tasted on 13th September 2015, are as follows:
2013 Gran Cavalier Sauvignon Blanc D.O.K. Malta – A bright, pale straw colour with a greenish hue and a ripe, rich nose reminiscent of lychee and honey. On the palate it is juicy and crisp with good acidity and rich ripe flavours of buttery asparagus. The wine is full flavoured with good weight and a well-balanced lengthy finish and still has some ageing potential left.
2004 Gran Cavalier Sauvignon Blanc (pre D.O.K.) – Bright and clear, with a deep golden colour that astonishingly shows no sign of oxidation. On the nose it’s honeyed, floral and flinty; reminiscent in style to ageing Bordeaux style Sauvignon Blanc and old German Rieslings. On the palate it is fat, complex, buttery and soft and had enough acidity left to remain refreshing. The wine has a good lengthy full finish but ideally needs to be drunk soon.
All of the Gran Cavalier Sauvignon Blanc wines produced are made using a process of pre fermentation skin contact labelled as Maceration Pelliculaire.
