The 2007 Sauvignon Blanc has just a little petillance, a pleasant grassy nose with a touch of chalk dust. Simple, but clean. The palate is lacking a little tension and acidity but has a nice prickly, capsicum-tinged finish. Seifried is one of Nelson’s oldest wineries, founded in 1973 by Austrian-born Hermann Seifried and his Kiwi wife Agnes Seifried in the Moutere Valley. They currently farm around 160 hectares and their new winery came on-line in 1996 on Rabbit Island adjacent to their first 60-hectare vineyard that was planted in 1988. There is an emphasis upon exports (in the UK it is distributed under the Redwood label.)Importer, Robert Whale Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 237-5200; fax (202) 244-4198.

Intensely perfumed, this is herbal but ripe, too, with fig and melon fruit aromas. It’s boldly flavored in the same vein, with the only quibble being that it finishes a little short. A solid effort.——J.C.(9/1/2008)—— 87