Wine of the week: a brave sauvignon blanc that hits the bullseye
This ultra-rare Kiwi white is a veritable mille-feuille of tanginess, texture and length, says Matthew Jukes.
2019 Fincher & Co., On the Brink Sauvignon Blanc, The Brink Vineyard, Renwick, Marlborough, New Zealand
£21.99, reduced to £18.99 on a Mix Six deal, majestic.co.uk
This amazing new wine was due to arrive in the Majestic depot on 5 October so it should be on their website next Monday. Look out for it there: it is a tiny parcel and it won’t make it physically into Majestic stores. Made by Kiwi wine supremo Ben Glover and English Master of Wine Liam Steevenson, this collaboration seeks out truly amazing plots of vines and then captures them in limited-edition bottlings. Brave and often bonkers, these wines are somewhat hit and miss on my palate, but when they hit, it is always a bullseye. On the Brink comes from Marlborough’s oldest organic vineyard, planted in 1991. It is made with partial skin contact before being released into older French oak barrels to slumber. With only 1.6 hectares of sauvignon blanc and 0.67 hectares of semillon, this is an ultra-rare wine!
The layers of seriously impressive citrus and herb fruit are interwoven with discreet smokiness, making this a veritable mille-feuille of tanginess, texture and length. There is an “everyday” white from this duo, too, which is also essential drinking: 2019 Fincher & Co, Wairau Valley Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand (£11.95, red-white.co.uk) comes from another single site, Dillons Point. Precise and persistent with piercingly dry citrus and cut grass notes, underpinned by seashell saltiness, this wine also shows that these guys mean business.
Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition’s Communicator of the Year (MatthewJukes.com).