Winemonger.com

Austrian wines performed brilliantly at a blind tasting of 50 of the world’s best Sauvignon Blanc. Not only with the younger vintages, but among the mature wines, the winners were Austrian. Austria, and in particular Styria, was able to secure its image as producer of elite world class Sauvignon Blanc.

The German rare wine merchant Jan-Erik Paulson and Austria’s celebrity chef Reinhard Gerer hosted an exclusive tasting at the VieVinum 2006. “We would like to take advantage of the presence of international wine journalists that are here for the VieVinum with an invitation to taste international Sauvignon Blanc. The results will attract international attention,” says the wine merchant Paulson. The tasting jury comprised 53 wine journalists from 27 countries. Among the wines tasted were Cloudy Bay, Vergelegn, Smith Haut Lafitte, Domaine de Chevalier, Domaine Bourgeois, Château Margaux, Mount Nelson, and Dagueneau.

The Burgenland vintner Andi Kollwentz was able to win the group of current vintages by a clear margin and was followed by two wines from New Zealand. Five of the first 10 Sauvignon Blancs came from Austria. The tasting of the group of mature vintages resulted in a home game for Styria. The Neumeister winery was able to edge out Smith Haut Lafitte from Bordeaux with the next five wines all coming from Styria: Erwin Sabathi, Hannes Sabathi, Tement, Polz, and Gross.

“The success of the Austrian Sauvignon Blancs in this international tasting confirms Austria’s position among the world’s elite producers of this classic variety,” states Michael Thurner, director of the Austrian Wine Marketing.

THE RESULTS
Older Vintages 2000-2003:
ranking, wine, score
1 Sauvignon blanc Moarfeitl 2001 Neumeister, Austria 92,5
2 Pessac-Leognan 2003 Smith Haut Lafitte, France 92,1
3 Sauvignon blanc Merveilleux 2003 Erwin Sabathi , Austria 91,8
4 Sauvignon blanc Reserve 2003 Hannes Sabathi, Austria 91,4
5 Sauvignon blanc Zieregg 2000 Tement, Austria 91,4
6 Sauvignon blanc Hochgrassnitzberg Reserve 2003 Polz, Austria 91,0
7 Sauvignon blanc Ratscher Nussberg 2000 Gross , Austria 90,7
8 Pouilly Fumé 2000 Baron de “L”, France 90,6
9 Conte della Vipera 2002 Antinori - Castello della Salla, Italy 89,5
10 Sauvignon blanc Privat 2000 Sattlerhof, Austria 89,2
11 Fume blanc 2002 Robert Mondavi, USA 87,0
12 Pessac-Leognan 2000 Domaine de Chevalier, France 86,6
13 Pavillon blanc 2002 Chateau Margaux, France 86,3
14 Woodthorpe Sauvignon blanc 2002 Te Mata Estate, New Zealand 81,9

Recent Vintages 2004 & 2005:
ranking, wine, score
1 Sauvignon blanc Steinmühle 2004 Kollwentz, Austria 94,1
2 Sauvignon blanc 2005 Palliser Estate, New Zealand 93,9
3 Sauvignon blanc Block 3 2005 Saint Clair, New Zealand 93,2
4 Pouilly Fumé La Demoiselle de Bourgeois 2004 Domaine Henri Bourgeois, France 93,0
5 Sauvignon blanc 2004 Andreas Tscheppe, Austria 92,9
6 Sauvignon blanc Martinborough 2005 Dog Point, New Zealand 92,7
7 Sauvignon blanc 2005 Cloudy Bay, New Zealand 92,6
8 Sauvignon blanc Hochgrassnitzberg 2004 Polz, Austria 92,5
9 Sauvignon blanc Steinbach 2005 Lachner-Tinnacher, Austria 92,5
10 Sauvignon blanc Sernauberg 2005 Sattlerhof, Austria 92,5
11 Sauvignon blanc Klausen 2004 Neumeister, Austria 92,2
12 Sauvignon blanc 2005 Mount Nelson, New Zealand 92,1
13 Sauvignon blanc Poharnig 2004 Erwin Sabathi, Austria 92,0
14 Sauvignon blanc Yarra Valley 2005 De Bortoli, Australia 91,9
15 Sauvignon blanc Groenekloof 2005 Neil Ellis, South Africa 91,9
16 Pouilly Fumé Silex 2004 Didier Dagueneau, France 91,8
17 Sauvignon blanc Welles 2005 Lackner-Tinnacher, Austria 91,7
18 Sauvignon blanc 2005 Mulderbosch, South Africa 91,7
19 Sancerre AC “La Bourgeoise” 2004 Domaine Henri Bourgeois, France 91,7
20 Sauvignon blanc 2005 Vergelegen, South Africa 91,5
21 Sauvignon blanc - Winemakers Selection 2004 Veramonte, Chile 91,4
22 Alteni di Brassica 2004 Gaja, Italy 91,3
23 Sauvignon blanc 2005 Nigl, Austria 91,1
24 Sauvignon blanc 2004 Jermann, Italy 91,0
25 Sauvignon blanc Fahnenberg 2005 Jurtschitsch, Austria 90,7
26 Sauvignon blanc 2004 Gravitas, New Zealand 90,6
27 Sauvignon blanc Grassnitzberg 2005 Tement, Austria 90,4
28 Sauvignon blanc Steinriegel 2005 Wohlmuth, Austria 90,3
29 Blanc Fumé de Pouilly Pur Sang 2004 Didier Dagueneau, France 90,0
30 Terlaner Sauvignon blanc 2005 Alois Lageder, Italy 89,8
31 Sauvignon blanc Rhinofields 2005 Durbanville Hills, South Africa 89,2
32 Sauvignon blanc Collio 2004 Schiopetto, Italy 89,1
33 Sauvignon blanc 2005 Brookland Valley, Australia 87,6
34 Sancerre 2004 Comte Lafond, France 86,7
35 Sauvignon blanc Reserve 2005 Steenberg, South Africa 86,0

Tasting Panel
# country, name
1 AUS Mr.Tim White
2 AUT Mr. Peter Baumann
3 AUT Mrs.Luzia Schrampf
4 AUT Mr. Peter Moser
5 AUT Mr.Pepi Schuller MW
6 AUT Mr.Viktor Siegl
7 AUT Mr. Peter Weirather
8 BEL Mr.Gérard Devos
9 BEL Mr. Guido Francque
10 CAN Mr. Michael Vaughan
11 CAN Mrs. Memory D. Walsh
12 CZ Mrs.Starka Duskova
13 D Hr.Till David Ehrlich
14 D Hr.Willi Faber
15 D Herr Sascha Speicher
16 D Hr.Ingo Swoboda
17 DK Mr.Jorgen Pedersen
18 ESP Mr.Alberto Fernandez Bombin
19 EST Mr.Kalev Kesküla
20 F Mr.David Cobbold
21 FIN Mrs.Essi Avellan
22 FIN Mr.Pekka Nuikki
23 FIN Mr.Pekka Suorsa
24 FR Mr. Philipp Blom
25 GB Mrs. Sally Easton MW
26 HK Mr. Curtis Marsh
27 IL Mr. Yair Koren Kornblum
28 IND Mr. Yohan Handoyo
29 IRL Mr.Raymond Blake
30 ITA Hr. Herbert Taschler
31 JAP Mrs.Fumiko Aoki
32 JAP Mrs. Junko Nakahama
33 JAP Mr. Katsuyuki Tanaka
34 JAP Mrs.Setsuko Yoshida
35 LIT Mr. Arunas Starkus
36 LIT Mrs. Rasa Suziedeliene
37 NL Mr.Ronald de Groot
38 NL Mr. Fred Nijhuis
39 NL Mrs. Janna Rijpma
40 NL Mr. Cees van Casteren
41 PL Mr.Marek Bienczyk
42 PL Mr. Wojtek Gogolinski
43 RUS Mr. Anatoly Gendin
44 RUS Mrs. Eleonora Scholes
45 RUS Mr. Igor Sharbatov
46 RUS Mr.Alexander Sidorov
47 RUS Mr. Michail Umnov
48 SGP Mr.Tommy Lam
49 UKR Mr.Dmytro Sydorenko
50 USA Mr. Darrel Joseph
51 USA Mr. Peter Liem
52 USA Mr. John Wilson
53 ZA Mr. Melvyn Minnaar

From the Austrian Wine Marketing Board