Score: 90/100
The ‘Petit Clos’ is the little brother of a wine to Clos Henri’s flagship Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, a wine meant to be a little more approachable, and affordable, yet still delivering the essence of this iconic Kiwi style.
Clos Henri is a winery based in Marlborough, New Zealand, owned and establish by Sancerre-based French producer Henri Bourgeois.
Tasting Notes
This Marlborough Sauv comes in a typical, quite pale lemon-yellow color, a little grey and with slight green hues.
The nose is also typical, very fragrant and exuberant, shouting out loud passion fruit characters, pineapple and grass.
But is also feel quite deep and elegant, with clove and white peppers aromas, more than in most Kiwi Sauvignon indeed.
A ripe mango character to the smell here makes it quite unique and feel distinctive too.
As soon as you put the wine in your mouth, the palate sensation of this Petit Clos strikes by its vibrancy and crispy acidity. There is a velvety acidic minerality that is positively surprising, very unusual but pleasant.
A simple although not perfect way to describe it, is that it feels the wine has little crystals of acids in it, that tease your palate with crispiness, a little like CO2 bubbles do in a fizzy drink but different, and better!
Flavors to the palate feel powerful and explosive, but also refined and elegant. Bursting passion fruit combined with juicy sweet pear.
Refreshing, zingy and citrusy, crisp and very well balanced.
Overall
A Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc bursting with all the typicity we love about Marlbourgh SB, but a wine bringing here its own unique interpretation of the style.
Remarkably juicy, combining rich tropical with well-balanced acidity and grassiness, it feels at the same time in-your-face aromatic AND elegant and refined from a controlled and complex expression.
Enjoy 🙂
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