Sauvignon Blancs

90 Points - Neal Martin

The 2015 Blanc Sec from Doisy Daene has a crisp and vibrant bouquet with citrus fruit, yellow flowers and light granite-like aromas, all very focused and conveying a sense of energy. The palate is well balanced with a touch of rosewater on the entry, quite saline toward the finish with a touch of bitter lemon. This is such a fascinating dry white Sauternes—a superb wine.

95 Points - James Suckling "This is really excellent with sliced apples, lemon rind, minerals and stones. Medium to full body, vivid and energetic acidity and a long and powerful, almost minerally finish. Wow."

93 Points - Stuart McCloskey

Less intense than both the ’02 and ’07, however the palate is well-balanced on the entry with fine citrus lemon, grapefruit and just a hint of spice. Good weight and quite linear towards the finish but great persistency. Drinking now.

Pale yellow with a chartreuse tint, the wine opens with bright aromatics of lime zest, lemon, green apple and a touch of honey. The entry is refreshing with ripe pineapple and grapefruit, framed by a nervy backbone of satiating acidity. A mid-palate of white peach and a hint of pith melds seamlessly into a long, energetic finish of wet stone and key lime.

Winemaker "We hand pick the fruit from Matthews Lane vineyard ensuring each parcel of fruit is in pristine condition. After a yeast starter the juice rests on yeast lees for 11 months in new 1,000L German Oak Fuder Barrels. The use of Fuder barrels in this way ensures our Single Vineyard white wines develop a greater complexity and refinement because oak doesn’t dominate. The ratio of wine in contact with the barrel surface is less than smaller barrels so oak pick up is less. The staves of Fuder barrels are thicker which means the temperature of ferment tends to be warmer and we find the fruit characters gain greater depth and complexity."

Exclusive to The Vinorium

95 Points - James Halliday "From a single vineyard in Karridale, whole berries pressed to old barriques and a 600l demi-muid for 11 months with lees stirring. Green-gold; a barrel-fermented sauvignon blanc that challenges normal beliefs and practises, made possible by the quality of the grapes. It marries honeyed richness and complexity, honey and crystallised grapefruit skin with dancing acidity."

94-96 Points - Neal Martin "The Domaine de Chevalier Blanc has a reserved, stony nose that you have to be patient with – give it a few minutes and there are some subtle undergrowth scents that begin to emerge, hints of orange blossom and dried apricot. The palate is well balanced with a delicate touch of spice on the entry. This is very focused with good weight and it displays wonderful tension on the finish that offers a Burgundy-like texture. Wonderful."

Exclusive to The Vinorium

97 Points - James Halliday "This wine breaks all the accepted rules/wisdom. Hand-picked, whole bunch-pressed, barrel-fermented in used barrels; matured for 11 months with some lees stirring; once bottled it is held for 18 months' further maturation. Glowing straw-green; it is a truly remarkable wine, with rapier-like intensity and prodigious length to its display of nectarine, gooseberry and citrus before the flinty acidity on its finish. 280 dozen made."

17 Points - Julia Harding (JancisRobinson.com) "Winemaker Stuart Pym was founder/winemaker at Stella Bella. Importer Vinorium have snaffled all the Flowstone library stock. But volumes are very small. Extremely smoky and reductive – flinty more than struck match. Dog Point Section 94 style with excellent freshness and intensity. Drive and length and complexity in that reductive style and deliciously fresh on the long finish. Complex but no loss of vibrancy."

92-94 Points - Neal Martin "The de Fieuzal Blanc has a lifted, perfumed bouquet with touches of dried orange peel and apricot blossom that are well defined and vigorous, perhaps leaning slightly to the New World (though there is nothing wrong with that.) The palate is well balanced with crisp green fruit, lemongrass and orange zest that builds to a vibrant, satisfying finish. This is a superb white from the estate."