From South Australia, where warm inland days and cool nights push Sauvignon Blanc into a riper register than the grape's Loire Valley home. Victoria Park works in that style: the variety picked with enough sun on it to build tropical weight, then kept tight by the natural acidity that South Australian whites hold onto when the nights stay cold.
- Sauvignon Blanc, 100%, from South Australia.
- 2021 vintage, dry, 12.5% ABV.
- Light body, high acidity, low tannin.
- 750ml bottle.
How it tastes
Passionfruit leads, and it is the loudest thing in the glass. Behind it, citrus and green apple, then a green herbal note that keeps the fruit from turning soft. The acidity is high and it does not sit still, so the wine finishes clean rather than round. Light on the palate throughout.
Where it comes from
South Australia is the country's workhorse wine state, and Sauvignon Blanc there tends to be fuller and more tropical than the grape's European versions. Warmer sites ripen the fruit further, which is where the passionfruit character comes from. The variety itself is aromatic and thin-skinned, and it loses its acidity fast once picked, so timing in the vineyard decides most of what ends up in the bottle.
Good to know
Sauvignon Blanc is one of the few grapes whose name is thought to come from the French sauvage, wild, because its leaves and vines grow in a tangle rather than a neat row. It is also the parent of Cabernet Sauvignon, crossed with Cabernet Franc in Bordeaux sometime in the 1600s.
