Nine Walks New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc 2010 New Release W.J. Deutsch & Sons

The news of the devistating earthquakes affecting Christchurch and Canterbury, New  Zealand has disapeared from the North American news coverage, yet it will be years before that region will fully recover.  They can certainly use all the help they can get.  Contact the NZ Red Cross if you wish.

The New Zealand wine industry, that has been growing dramatically over the last few years, fortunately was not seriously affected. Wine is an important part of the New Zealand economy so we were happy for that.

The successful international wine marketer/importer W.J. Deutsch & Sons is releasing a new NZ Sauvignon Blanc to the US market called Nine Walks. We drank this wine with a dinner of salad of very fresh vegetables from the farmers market, with homemade mustard vinagrette and some French cheese and bread.

The wine is said to be inspired by the "9 Great Walks of New Zealand which encompass some of the most scenic parts of New Zealand's back country, from ridgelines to beach coastlines and volcanoes to glaciers, the walks are said to refresh the mind and rejuvenate the soul."

We did not quite get all that, but found Nine Walks to be a good quality NZ Sauv Blanc that can be found at a every good price point.  $9.99 at one of our favorite stores Liquor Outlet Wine Cellars in Boonton, NJ.

There is no real information available on who is making this wine in the Marlborough region, but the winemakers there are pretty much universally good. It's grapes are sourced from vineyards in the Wairau Valley and Awatere Valley sub-regions of Marlborough, NZ. These areas tend to produce grapes that have nice tropical, herbaceous flavors with nice minerality. 

We found Nine Walks to be a full flavored but mellow Sauvignon Blanc that will give it broad appeal. It does not have any of the extreme citrus flavors or "cat piss" aroma that is found in some NZ SBs.  

Posted: July 31, 2011