July 2nd, 2009

2008 New Harbor Sauvignon Blanc

In our quest to find delicious wines for $10 or under, the Husband and I came across this baby from New Zealand. Apparently this is from an up-and-coming region in New Zealand for wine-making. Okay, if you say so.  (Like I know anything about New Zealand except that I had a pen pal in 8th grade from there who wore freakishly long shorts. Hi Kristie! How are the knees doing?)

This wine is seriously refreshing. It is chock full of citrus flavors (Hello, grapefruit!) and has got a crispness perfect for a hot summer day.  I think, for the flavors, it is the ideal level of sweetness. (There would be a danger of being too sweet given the fruitiness – I want to drink wine, not a jolly rancher.)

I love sauvignon blancs in general, especially with light summer fare like salads, pastas, chicken, and fish.  We had this with grilled chicken and pasta—it went along beautifully.

I really could not believe this was around $10.

I also really could not believe it came in a screw-top.

Disclaimer: I had a glass of this wine BEFORE I found out it came in a screw-top.  I have to say I was pretty anti-screw tops in the past.  I mean, when I thought of wines with screw tops, I thought of brown paper bags and street corners.  But, thankfully, the Husband educated me on how lots of wineries are going the screw top route, some with really good quality wine inside. I am a changed woman! (But, I’m still anti-wine box.)

More from this Author

This Weeks Tip

When, like Becca, you make a week’s worth of “HotDish” (pasta bake) you’re going to need someplace to store it. But we all know what that red sauce will do to your plastic containers. We assume that if you wanted orange containers, you would have bought them that way. So try this: spray your containers with cooking spray before you load up the leftovers. No more stains!

More tips