2009/2008 Monkey Bay Sauvignon Blanc

I haven't posted in a few days as I've been in Boston. Angela did the 39.3 mile Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. She was in fact in it to end it. Well, she finished on Sunday and yesterday evening we visited some relatives of Angela's, Doug and Marille. Doug is a music teacher with a degree from Berklee School of Music and is possibly one of the most interesting characters I have ever met. He showed Angela and I some pictures of when we was touring the midwest with his rock and roll bands. Marille is a very interesting French woman who is married to Doug. She is told us some stories of her mother and living in France. All in all it was an excellent evening. But now you're probably asking what does this have to do with wine. Well, we drank wine before and with dinner.

I don't remember what the wine with dinner was, although it was good, the wine we had before dinner was actually great, especially for the price. As you can see from the title, we had Monkey Bay Suavignon Blanc. Since there were 5 of us (one of Doug's former bandmates, Gary, was also there), we had to open two bottles. They were of different vintage, which was an awesome experiment. This is a relatively cheap wine, the bottle I believe said $8.99, from New Zealand. It has a screwtop so you probably don't want to age it too long, but that doesn't mean it wasn't good.

We started with the 2009 which had a touch of sweetness and was actually quite refreshing and smooth. I was eating some cashews with it, and it was great. I would certainly drink this wine again. I don't know how it will go with food, it would probably be fine with something light or with a sweet dessert. It is probably most suited for pre-dinner cocktail.

After we finished off the 2009 we moved to the 2008. The '09 was in my mind a better tasting wine. The 2008 was a bit harsh. It had an aftertaste that was not pleasant, but this may be because it was a slightly older wine than the 2009. That being said, the 2008 was a decent wine, I certainly would not turn it down. Neither of these wines had oak flavors, probably because Sauvignon Blanc is rarely oaked when it is 100% varietal (i.e. not a blend). For the amount of this wine that we drank, I would have expected to awaken not feeling great, but I awakened this morning (on an air matress I might add) feeling sleepy but with no lingering effects of the wine! This is a big plus for me, and is usually the sign of a wine that has few impurities. All in all, I would recommend both the 2009 and the 2008, but I prefer the 2009.

The 2009 Monkey Bay Sauvignon Blanc gets 3.5 grapes out of 5.

The 2008 Monkey Bay Sauvignon Blanc gets 2.75 grapes out of 5.