A nice surprise turned up on the doorstep on Monday morning – a couple of bottles of Moncellier from Marlborough to review – the 2010 Sauvignon Blanc and 2010 Pinot Gris – My thanks to Greg Rowdon at Moncellier and Angela Appleton at Treasury Wine Estates for organizing this and with such lovely packaging and presentation too.

Moncellier is a French which literally translated means “My Cave or My Cellar” and is symbolized by a set of keys chosen as part of the brand by Bill Spence and Greg Rowden who together founded Moncellier in 2007 (over a few beers apparently!) They make their wines from small parcels of carefully selected vineyards from throughout New Zealand.

So here I am sitting here on a Saturday afternoon – “too hot to work in the garden – probably a good time for a glass of Savvy” I thought to myself. Mmmm Moncellier sounds pretty good so I cracked it open… It was bright, clean, lemon straw in colour with hints of lime, and it sparked in the bright sunlight pouring into the office here… (geez that sounds a bit poetic doesn’t it?)

On the nose I got pungent cut-grass, a tiny hint of ‘armpit’ (which I like) and luscious lemon-lime citrus characters with little passion fruit too.

There was some minerality on the palate giving good structure and with some good acid assisting with a nice long mouthwatering finish… I really like this style of Savvy and it’s drinking beautifully considering it was only bottled in June 2010 – I’d expect that with another year or even two of careful cellaring this will develop into something quite stunning… I rated this wine 17.5 /20  (87.5/100) or A Silver Medal.

This wine is distributed by Treasury Wine Estates and is available exclusively through fine wine and on premise outlets. Recommend Price points: Fine Wine Retail: $24.99 per Bottle. On Premise: $11.00 per Glass / $55.00  Bottle.

To find out more about Moncellier wines visit http://www.moncellierwines.co.nz/

Next up will be the 2010 Pinot Gris…