Santa Rita (Chile) Reserva Sauvignon Blanc 2003
Vina Santa Rita was founded back in 1880, and for me produces some wonderfully classic wines. Everything about them is rather restrained and ‘serious’, from the lables on the bottles, to the style of the wines, which are never flashy, never too blowsy, but always display a great deal of authority and elegance as well as generous fruit. None moreso than the Reserva Sauvignon Blanc, which I enjoy vintage after vintage. In 2003 they have produced a lovely wine, with a nose of lemon and gooseberry, with a nettly quality and hint of sourness. There’s a dry, elegant minerality too. On the palate this wine really has some backbone, with a decisive rasp of acidity that shoots through the mid-palate, and a flood of waxy, citrussy fruit. There are teasing glimpses of a mealier, richer texture and some sweeter fruit, but then that hammer-blow of mouthwatering lemon returns, as clean and bracing as you could ask for from a great Sancerre. Lovely, concentrated and impressive stuff. £6.99 Majestic
