Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc on the ski slope

We took this bottle of Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2009 on our spring-break ski trip to Colorado where we skied Wolf Creek, Breckenridge and Vail. We found this New Zealand wine at our local Flagstaff Safeway grocery store for $10.39 plus tax. This wine retails for $16.49, so we felt that we snagged an excellent deal.

I love the zesty flavor and crisp acidity of the NZ sauvignon blancs and the Oyster Bay did not disappoint. Wine tips: This wine made for a great hot tub wine - in a plastic glass, of course. But since I don't particularly care for wine in plastic, I always bring along glass stemwear for "in the room." This wine made for a fun, festive spring break wine.

Tomorrow we will be skiing the last day of the season at Arizona Snowbowl. We're expecting 18" of powder after the spring snowstorm that has been pounding us for the past 24 hours.  We might have to uncork a bottle of Oyster Bay for après-ski tomorrow evening.

Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2009 comes from fruit grown in the Marlborough region of New Zealand. It has one of New Zealand's most sunny and most dry climates so it allows the grapes a long, slow ripening period. The cool nights there are said to add to the zesty taste by preserving the grape's natural acidity. I hope to visit the region this November while I travel New Zealand. I haven't decide on which vineyards to visit, so if you have recommendations, please leave a comment below or RT me @Travelwriter on Twitter.com.

With a slogan like "Sometimes the world really is your oyster," one of Oyster Bay's four Marlborough vineyards is in the running for a visit. So here we are again, tasting the world, one bottle at a time.

Click here for winemaker's tasting notes.

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New Zealand Wine Tasting Party in California

Tasting New Zealand: Grass or no?

OK, so the premise here is that if I can buy this New Zealand wine in my small mountain hometown of Flagstaff, AZ, YOU will certainly be able to find it somewhere near you. I purchased a bottle of Matua Valley Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc at my local Safeway last week for $8.81 (regularly $13.99.)

I brought the bottle with me to Carlsbad, California this weekend. "What? You're bringing wine WITH you to California?" exclaimed my hubby, Dan. "We're driving right through Temecula!"

"I'll get a bottle of red at Hart Winery when we drive through Temecula wine country. But I'd really like to find out if the others we are meeting in California can taste the "grass" in this New Zealand wine. I can taste the "herbaceous" flavors, but can't taste "cut grass." A bartender at Cuvee' 928 Wine Bar and Cafe' where we had a Flagstaff TweetUp last Wednesday night said, "Oh, yeah! You'll taste the cut grass. That's what it tastes like: cut grass. I don't know if he was BS-ing me or not, because I still could not taste cut grass in the glass of NZ Stoneleigh that he served me.

So I was really hopeful that this Matua Valley Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2010 that I was bringing to California would deliver the mowed experience. There were only three wine drinkers at the gorgeous vacation townhome we rented very near the Carlsbad beach. I proudly poured the Matua. "That is very good!" said Rolf, a red wine drinker.

"I like it, too!" said Brandy. "I think I taste herbs on the back of my tonung. It might be grass."

"The New Zealand Sauvignons really have a long finish - the taste is great all the way back to the back of the tonung. But does it taste like grass? Cut grass?" I plead disappointedly. I am excited that I taste a hint of green pepper and crisp apples...well, maybe pear. Oh, I don't know maybe it is the passionfruit touted on the label. I think we need our wine aroma guide.

The vintners, Bill and Ross Spence, were the first to plant Sauvignon Blanc grapes in New Zealand, and so began the legacy of the best terrior for Sauvignon Blanc wines in the world. But the vote was in: 3 to 3, no cut grass in the Matua Valley Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. Herbs and fruit: yes!

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Stacey Wittig is an Arizona travel writer who writes about food and wine and blogs at True Vine Wine Blog.

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Villa Maria Private Bin Marlborough Savignon Blanc

Villa Maria Private Bin Marlborough Savignon Blanc

Villa Maria touts "New Zealand's Most Awarded Wines for 30 Years" on this bottle of Private Bin Marlborough Savignon Blanc. I was excited to open it on this snowy day in Flagstaff, AZ.

The label promises that this wine is "bursting with ripe tropical and gooseberry aromas" so I thought it might add to the feeling of being on a tropical holiday on this already-festive snow day.

Alas, swirl after swirl would not break loose tropical aromas. Since I've never tasted gooseberries, I can't say if the second promise was broken or not. Although I did google gooseberries and found that "most liken the unripe gooseberry in taste to a sour grape."  Hmmmm... the Villa Maria Private Bin Marlborough 2009 Savignon Blanc certainly is zingy. The winery says it's the "racy acidity." Yes, I like the smooth, racy acidity very much.

I was disappointed because the price of this wine ($19.99 USD) gave me expectations that is would  surpass other New Zealand wines of lesser price points. I usually don't pay more than 10 bucks for a bottle of good wine. (Proving once again that a wine doesn't have to be expensive to be good.) I found the Villa Marie on sale at Safeway this week.

This experience won't stop me from trying other Villa Marie wines. Only after I purchased this bottle did I realize that the fruit came from many vineyards across the Marlborough region. Next time I'll try one of Villa Maria's single-vineyard wines.

By the way, the idiomatic expression  playing gooseberry used by Brits and Canadians is similar to the term being a third wheel used in the U.S. Probably because gooseberries grow in clumps of three.  

Too bad that even though I day-hiked and picked agates at neighboring Gooseberry Falls State Park when I lived in Duluth, Minnesota, I never did pick or taste one of those rascals. Gooseberries, that is.

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Stacey Wittig is an Arizona Travel writer that writes about food and wine.

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