I love this photo because it encapsulates what is so great about the wine industry. When wine people get together, horizontal tastings like this are inevitable. At a post-Vinitaly dinner we tasted these three wines together with the good people of Cantina Bolzano: a sure sign you’re dealing with a first-class winery when they are happy to match their wines up against some of the best in the world!
The Silex was from 2006- a super-mineral, Sauvignon-fantasy. It’s a weighty wine that benefits from some time in the glass as it continues to evolve and open before your very nose. Classic, prototypical Sauvignon. This is the dream of most Sauvignon-makers.
Terlano’s Quarz from 2011 was predictably weighty due to the extended lees-contact… always a favorite and full of that irony, steel-cage minerality that frames the most lush tropical fruit. A testament to the incredible amount of sunshine Alto Adige sees each year.
And Cantina Bolzano’s Sauvignon Mock 2012? Certainly the freshest of the bunch- zippy, clean and totally vertical. It’s a tribute to those nearly impossibly terraced vineyards and their perfect sunny exposure clinging to the mountainsides. Lime peel, green tea, and a very fine acidity. (PS. I am in love with Alto Adige at this point in the evening…)
All three examples of Sauvignon were completely different, equally beautiful, and totally unique.
(Michael Whidden and me, post-tasting. Smiles courtesy of Sauvignon)