House Wine

I bought my first house wine today. New Zealand sauvignon blanc, of course. I hadn’t even realized what had happened until I mentioned the purchase to a friend and she told of her new wine fridge; it comes with a pamphlet advising you to pick a wine you like and buy a lot of it: a house wine. So now, I have a case of King Shag a bargain, easy drinking NZ Sauv Blanc, as they so love to call it. Crisp, light, herbaceous and citrus notes with a slightly mineral finish—a nice surprise if you ask me.

Sauvignon blanc works for me for two reasons: I love the stuff and it holds its structure for two or three days. What’s not to love about the crisp clean palate, flavors of ruby red grapefruit and fresh, raw greens? It’s beautiful and harmonious; it’s refreshing and bright. I love it. I love it so much I moved there and learned how to make it and tasted it up and down the country, deciding that Nelson sauvignon blancs were my favorites, for the simple, yet powerful, reason that they show more minerality than their Marlborough counterparts. Good luck finding Nelson wine in California though. So I stock up on the other stuff.