30 April 2020
Here is a moment with a wine I know very well. Mokoroa Sauvignon blanc is one of the cornerstones of Salveto Imports’ entire portfolio of, some, 700 wines. So, as I sat down in the big, beat-up leather, my favourite place to sit Indian-style, and write, work, think, and/or drink, I had to prepare me surroundings to accommodate the impending change in this wine. It is a structural alteration. I had prior knowledge of this change, and was being cautious. It is a global pandemic. Me nerves are a bit taut. Therefore, moments after I said “Finn, can you dig out the bottle with green label and the enormous moth for me?” I also said “Alex, shuffle songs by the Orb.” To my surprise, she said she could, and responded immediately.
Mokoroa is the second label of Puriri Hills. This winery is owned, and run by Judith Fowler, an absolute heavyweight in New Zealand wine. She is a native of Lynchburg, VA, a town I happen to know well, having graduated in 1988 from Holy Cross Regional School in that Baptist enclave. Judy moved to New Zealand in her early 50’s, some 25 years ago, and has become the Grande Dame of Kiwi artisan wine. Her son is one of the owners of Salveto-my boss, Gray Mosby. He’s also a force of nature in this oddly wine-crazed Commonwealth. Judy’s Puriri Hills wines are absolutely world class in every sense. The Mokoroa Sauvignon Blanc is the ONLY white wine she makes, and indeed the only wine not from her estate on the North Island in Clevedon.
Mokoroa Sauvignon comes from Awatere Valley, on a hilly, and apparently sustainable vineyard site she selected, and then contracted herself. She never wanted to do a white, her son talked her into it, as it was a no-brainer. Therefore, she said what she did and did not want in the wine’s characteristics, and indeed that is what she gets; no cat piss, balanced grapefruit, balanced grass, soft green pepper, soft poblano pepper, very little gooseberry, a wee bit of passion fruit, decent minerality for NZ. She’s nailed it year after year, and for a retail price around $16, this wine over-delivers.
However, in 2019, she decided to add 6% Viognier. When I heard about this months ago, I was very concerned. “Why,” thought I, “would one deface the perfection that is a good Sauvignon, with that grape?” Why do I have a beef with Viognier? Because it is the McMansion of grapes, the nouveau riche, the gawdy, loud, and thick American in the opera house. Peter Neff at J Emerson said it very diplomatically once, “It has a bit too much personality.” Being guilty of that affliction myself, and being self-loathing, I am inclined to agree, and subsequently hate the fucker. It is all flowers, peaches, honeysuckle, spices, and then no acid to keep it all lively and moving. Viognier is getting stuck in a cab with someone wearing too much perfume, as opposed to catching a fleeting hint in a windy corridor. What do I love about most Sauvignon? I love that no matter what flavours, aromas, grasses, exotic fruits, animal excrement it might have, the searing acidity keeps it all fresh and moving along nicely.
I chose not to question, not to ask, not to judge. I waited. Still in the big chair, still listening to the Orb, Finn has moved on to Youtube or video games, and I am here with a glass of this slightly changed, old friend. Working backwards from big picture to minutia…It is gorgeous. There are moments when it is almost too gorgeous, too opulent, but just when you start to go there, it pulls back. The acid kicks in, the palate is cleansed, and then before you wonder what just happened, you go back for more, and realise you can keep this up for a while. There are brief moments where a bit of that almost tannic dryness from the Viognier asserts itself, you worry a bit, and then that, too, passes. This wine is now dominated by stone fruits; apricots, ripe peaches of all kinds, and white flowers, then the citrus layer, and something almost like the lovechild of a green melon and a lime, hits in the mid-palate. There is a lingering canned peaches thing, that being of middle class, mid Atlantic stock, I happen to love. It is both safe and thrilling to my provincial upbringing. Once you are into it, and you step back to evaluate with some serious scrutiny, you wonder if this isn’t Sauvignon and Riesling blended together. I keep wondering how I would blind taste this wine, and I keep questioning myself. I also find myself wondering what I would pair this with? Some sort of very intense, innovative salad, certainly Chиvre, with some herbs on top, maybe tarragon? Cashews, although that is lazy as cashews pair with bloody everything! It is dry, at 12.8% ABV, quite dry for NZ. Each time I taste it, it is a bit different. And the exciting thing is, if it behaves like the last 3 vintages, it will change a bit every 3 months or so. My anxiety is now gone, I can drift off to some dystopian sci fi without worrying about the present. Sweet dreams.