2008 Duckhorn Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley

Community Tasting Notes (43) Avg Score: 88.5 points

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  2/17/2024 - caspernick Likes this wine: 92 Points

  My buddy Rewt kindly offered me a mixed case of wines that had been forgotten in a garage for 4 years. In actuality, some had been forgotten far longer with bottles from the late 90's mingling with an '89 White Zinfandel! You know where I am going with this..... down the drain with most of them. This Sauvignon Blanc however showed promise. A high ullage and decent color made me try it. I was pleasantly surprised!
  
  Pale gold, perhaps medium lemon and still showing youth, even though it has lots of age on it. A watery sheen medium viscosity (13.5% ABV). The nose is very interesting with some burnt ginger, dried grapefruit peel, blood orange pith, a hint of green grass, a touch of a smoky note and possibly some oak? The palate is dry with medium (+) acidity and a medium body. Albeit not delightful, it does show some interesting character and perseverance. There’s a certain level of bitterness, phenolic or otherwise that keeps showing up- I could even smell it. Considering this wine has been sitting in somebody’s hot garage for ages I’m totally blown away that a 16-year-old wine is in such good condition. The citrus fruits show off the wine's age- being desiccated, and very ripe. The smokiness I got on the nose carries through to the palate and the finish is quite long. The grapefruit pith flavors persist the longest on the backend. I would never have guessed that this wine was heat damaged, only past its prime. Drink it now or forever hold your peace. It’s hard to scale a wine of its provenance (or lack thereof) but it would probably have been a 91 to 92 pointer in its day. Fun to try!
  
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  7/6/2013 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 90 Points

  Tasted at Duckhorn-bought 8 half bottles from their library. lovely nose of peach, pear, and honey, more of the same on the palate, crisp, clean, at its peak, medium body, medium finish. Went well with the pate at Angel's that evening during dinner.

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  12/22/2012 - WinePT wrote: 86 Points

  Light straw yellow color. Flavors of honeysuckle, touch of lemon and butter, apple. Short finish.

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  9/2/2012 - Steve Brickley wrote: 89 Points

  Slight taint of yellow; faintorange, slight honeysuckle; watery, acid subdued, smooth, fruit dropping off substantially, slight yeast; light weight, very little pucker. This is drinking very well now and is moving out of its drinking window. Drink now. A simple wine good for a summer day. Nothing offensive.

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  1/15/2012 - chriskfla wrote: 89 Points

  lovely nose, crisp expression of grapefruit, citrus, smooth medium finish. perfect foil to grilled seafood with lemon butter sauce. actually goes well with all sort of food from bruschetta to grilled chicken.

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