Isaac Pirolo

9.5

90° at 7pm calls for more Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.
.
Cloudy Bay was founded in 1985 by David Hohnen of Margaret River’s Cape Mentelle along with its first winemaker, Kevin Judd, who would go on to spend 25 years there before creating his own label, Greywacke. Judd is widely considered as the pioneer responsible for elevating New Zealand wine to its current status. Judd also happens to be one of the best wine photographers in the world (I highly recommend his ‘The Landscape of New Zealand Wine’).
.
According to Master of Wine Bob Campbell “the genesis for Greywacke Wild Sauvignon was Cloudy Bay Te Koko; a funky, barrel-fermented sauvignon blanc that bent all the rules when it was made in 1992 and initially sold only through the cellar door. Greywacke Wild Sauvignon is a blend from 10 different Marlborough vineyards which are machine-harvested at night. After pressing the juice is settled before being pumped into mostly old barrels and fermented using indigenous yeasts (about 15-20 different strains). The wine undergoes a partial malolactic fermentation and lees stirring.”
.
Incredible aromatics... an almost vibrant herbaceousness... red bell pepper, grapefruit zest, tangerine, apricot, and cucumber, with a silky smooth mouthfeel unlike most Sauvignon Blancs. Extraordinary. — 7 years ago

Sergio Licea

9.2

Cherry heering, blackberry jam, clay, bay leaf, mint, bell pepper, pencil shavings. Balanced acid/rough velvet tannin balance, juicy texture, medium bodied, earthy-herbal-slightly smoky finish. Inviting light toned aromatics, food friendly structure and finish. Unique interpretation of Cabernet. — 8 years ago

Joyce Lin

8.9

Dusty, cinnamon, pencil shaving, steel and blood on the nose. Blackberry, black cherry, black currant, menthol, slightly eucalyptus, bay leaf, greenish nose but not green bell pepper. savoriness showed up after breathing for 5 hours. — 8 years ago

David D

8.9

Medium bodied, red fruit, lots of mineral acid tang, bay leaf, black pepper & bell pepper. From Flatiron Wines. — 8 years ago

Marissa A. Ross

Wine Editor, Bon Appétit

9.6

Quite possibly the best California Cabernet Franc EVER. Dark-night plum in color, with a bouquet of spicy pine, raspberry, and your favorite pair of heavy denim Levi's freshly laundered. As for the taste, I'm floored. How it is possible for briny blackberries, dehydrated green bell pepper, with hints of toasted blueberries and big flakes of black pepper to come together smoother than lube is beyond me. — 9 years ago

Ned Gray Creed

9.3

Ceritas Cabernet Sauvignon Peter Martin Ray Vineyard 2012. Touch of bell pepper on the nose, beautiful. Looking forward to opening bottles of that over the next decade. — 9 years ago

with Mark

April Wang

9.0

Green bell peppers, smoky, prunes, light color gave it away. — 10 years ago

Austen Ito

8.9

Melon, floral, mango nose. Nice acid, medium body. Mango, honeydew, bell pepper with light mineralaity. — 10 years ago

Edgar Poureshagh

9.1

Spitfire bottling. Fresh and dried sour cherries, red currants, blackberry, clove, anise, bell pepper, red pepper, autumn leaves, bay seasoning. Excellent acidity, love the moderate alcohol. — 11 years ago

Paul J

9.1

Different than other bottles I've had of this wine and vintage. Pepper, spice, cedar, and heat on the nose. Massive green and bell pepper flavors. Not much fruit. Medium finish. Not as good as other bottles, but still good value! — 7 years ago

with Brooke

Robert McCall

9.1

Strawberry, spice, earth, and faint herbal/bell pepper note dominates the nose. Bright strawberries, spice, pepper, and a nice silky acidity provides moderate intensity in the mouth. Showing well tonight baby! — 8 years ago

Richard Schnitzlein

9.0

Ripe, but not overripe. Green bell pepper nuanced with Ted and black currant fruit. Fairly supple. — 8 years ago

Matt Grauwiler

8.9

Very refreshing on a nice summer day; bell pepper bursting on your nose and mouth — 8 years ago

Max Hollander-Eberly

9.2

Fucking delicious! A glorious fruit bomb without being overly jammy! Silky and smooth, with ripe red and black fruit up front and herbacious notes of oregano, bay leaf and green bell pepper coming after. After opening up more, some fennel and black licorice came forward. Love it! — 8 years ago

Sean Wallner - WSET II

9.4

Eucalyptus, Green Bell Pepper, Dill Pickle, Strawberry and Cherry. Full-bodied with high tannins and a long finish. — 8 years ago

Greg Ballington

Co-Founder of Millennial Drinkers Wine Blog

9.1

Second of the two Left Bend reds sent over to us from Gary. Love the labels on these wines and the name of this vineyard, 'Vanumanutagi' which is a Samoan word meaning "Vale of the Singing Bird". Trust us this wine sings! Bright ruby red with purplish hues. Nose started off a little tight with just red cherries and a slight perfume, but as it opened up over the next few hours it developed some cinnamon, vanilla, baking spices and some light lead. Strong acidity on the palate, makes us this it is definitely packing a punch and can last. The strong acidity hides the alcohol well. Moderate tannins (6/10) and moderate body carried by the acidity. Strong attack of red fruits and cherries. As it had some time to breathe the palate developed some baking spices, slight caramel and herbs, all very subtle. Slightly drying finish from the acidity with a little wet rock feel. A ton of potential with this wine, we drank this on day one, two, three, four and it kept opening up and its body held together. With a few extra years this will definitely score a few more points. Drink now till 2026. — 9 years ago

April Wang

9.1

Earthy, lovely. Green bell pepper — 10 years ago

Robert Simmons

9.0

1996 vintage. Typical pyrazine nose (bell pepper, bay leaf) with raspberry. Soft tannins stop-short the ripe red berry character. — 10 years ago

THOR Vintners & Co.

8.9

Elegant pleasing. Pomegranate and sweet bell-pepper aroma. Balanced tannin structure. — 11 years ago

Brian S

8.9

Nose: black fruit, old roses, bittersweet chocolate, slight bell pepper.
Taste: black berry, black cherry, coffee ground, bay leaf, mint, thin mint Girl Scout cookies, gravely rocks.
— 7 years ago

David Shaw

8.9

Dusty, slightly funky, sweet cherry, cassis and perhaps bell pepper notes in nose. Cherry, cassis and later green plum flavors with length in mouth, Chewy medium weight tannins with cherry, raspberry and mustard greens on finish. Fun to see them doing unfiltered wines. Aged this a bit but not sure about the results. No discernible wood, malolactic or such. Inexpensive, worth trying whatever vintage you can find — 7 years ago

Kyndal Cherokee Sutton

9.0

There were some almost bell pepper flavors and a good bit of acidity. I will definitely buy again. — 8 years ago

Hum

9.1

Cabernet focused ... bell pepper, bay leaf, red fruit, cedar. — 8 years ago

with Charlotte

Sean Wallner - WSET II

9.4

Blackberries, blueberries, vanilla and game/meat roasting over a campfire. This was an off-dry/medium-sweet red with high tannins and very flavorful. The palate also presented some bell pepper, cherry, raspberry and spice. Needs some more time but very tasty. — 8 years ago

Jeff Ryan

9.5

Is it the best American representation of a Merlot? Possibly. Bell pepper for days, bay leaf, spice. 😍 — 8 years ago

with Jule

Rebecca Fletcher

8.9

Black cherry, dried herbs, bay leaf, roasted bell pepper, eucalyptus, and black olive. M- acid, m intensity. M+ firm tannin. Dark chocolate on the palate. — 9 years ago

April Wang

8.9

Medium plus ruby. Green bell pepper, cherry, prunes, plums. Medium plus acidity, medium plus sugar. — 9 years ago

Robert Branden Shine

9.2

20 percent chard, this wine is bigger than a New Zealand Sav Blanc. No oak, grapefruit, lime, jalapeño oddly enough and bell pepper. — 10 years ago

Aaron Means

8.9

I liked this compared to others among my group. Bright red stewed fruit, fresh, bay leaf and bell pepper. Good weight considering the color isn't that dark. Definitely different,..... — 11 years ago

Andy Lardy

9.2

Dynamic Sauv blanc - reminds me of cloudy bay w/ a little less acid and green character. Nose starts as pure guava and passion fruit, yielding to increasingly more grassy aromas as it warms (from green bean to grass to green bell pepper). Acid is moderate. More guava and pineapple on the palate, grass is moderate...definitely there but pleasantly dialed in for me. A touch bitter. Surprisingly fat for a Sauv blanc. This is a fun one if you keep her cold. — 12 years ago