Cheap Surprise and a Consistent Sauv Blanc

I "borrowed" a bottle of wine from Mum to take to dinner at a friend's house a few weekends ago - Hardy's Stamp Series Cabernet/Shiraz blend. The label looks nice, so I thought I might be taking a slightly nicer than average bottle, and it tasted really good too in that Aussie Cab/Shiraz way so I thought it might be a $20 bottle. $14.95! Good deal and I think just as good as the Wolf Blass Cab/Shiraz which is a couple of dollars more, so you may as well go with this one. Pleasant surprise.

I also just opened a bottle of the Stoneleigh Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. I used to get it as a really nice, relatively cheap Sauv Blanc in Ontario for about $14. When it showed up here it was over $18 and is now listed at $19.80. Soooooooooo...it is still a very nice NZ Sauvignon Blanc, but it ain't so cheap here. However, it is the cheapest of the NZ Sauvignon Blancs offered by YLC by a dollar or three, so if you like the style (very green, grassy, gooseberry, cat pee etc.) then you may as well buy this one. I've liked the Kim Crawford one too, for $22.95, and I think the Oyster Bay one is also good at $20.60. I haven't tried the others.

If you want a slightly less aggresive and green Sauvignon Blanc, try one from Chile. Better price, but I do like the NZ style.