Poured these last weekend for friends at a neighborhood picnic. My thoughts:

Tohu - $12 and WOTN. Burtsing with tangy lime, quava, kiwi, hint of stones and zingy finish. 91pts in my book. Everyone elses favorite as well.

Stoneliegh - $12 #2. Nice citrus and lime flavors, a little more chalky/minerally than the others nice sip on the finish. 90pts

Dashwoood - $12 #3. Number 3 but not a bad thing. Limeade, mandaring oranges with a little zing on the finish 89+

Babich $10 - A tough more herbal than the others still nice. 87pts

Thanks for the notes, calcabs.

I totally agree with you on the Tohu. It is the best 2004 NZ SB that I have tasted this year, including Cloudy Bay.

Cheers,

Otis

$12.00, Retail.

A very nice bottle of Sauv Blanc. This screams your typical, tropical fruit, lime, crisp NZ Blanc. A very nice wine that will do very well in the summer. Simple but nice, enjoyable, refreshing, & great with non-winos.

Rating: 87 points, drink now.

P.S.: this is a WS 90 pointer.

2004 was a tough year for sblanc in the end. My favourites were Jackson Estate and Villa Maria Reserve Wairau

LCC - Interesting you say great with non-winos. I tend to find when I serve a NZ SB to non-winos they find it far to tart and would prefer something sweeter or softer.

KiwiWine- The 2005's are just starting to hit the ground here any thoughts? So far I have tried the Mudhouse (I thought not nearly as good as 2004 maybe to early) , RedCliffe( good QPR for $7), Babich (So far the best 2005 I have tried).

$14.00, Retail.

A pretty good bottle of Sauv Blanc. It gets the job done for the money. It did not impress me on the same level as calcabs, but a pretty good bottle of wine nonetheless. A little too much on the acidity & a hint of bitterness/unbalance on the finish (right @ the end).

Rating: 86 points, drink now.

P.S.: a WS 90 pointer.

LCC - I think the acid was high on this wine when we had end of summer it was I think in balance and propped up the fruit. I had one a few months ago and would agree that the fruit was not as evident and as a result the acid was a bit more pronounced.

Perhaps then it was better upon release as some of the fruit faded, not as evident. I think the 05s are out now.

LCC - The 2005's are out. We drink a lot of NZ Sauv Blancs and for the most part I try to drink them in first year out. Although some develop nicely with less fruit but more mineral and herbs others seem to die. I tried the Tohu and recall I liked but no specific notes. I have tried 10+ 2005's and overall have found them better than the 2004's.

So far the 2005's that have stood out to me 87-91pts have been Alan Scott which is very rich fruit filled wine it has a lot of fruit and a little fuller bodied than most., others I have liked Oyster Bay, Mud House, Babich, Dashwood, Governors bay.

The biggest disappointment so far has been the Stoneleigh which I thought was not near as good as the 2004. Also was unimpressed with a bottle of Coppers Creek but need to try again as it may have been to cold.

The QPR winner so far is Redcliffe ($7) I would probably give this one 86pts it is very tasty for the price and my wife's friends love it.