A tasting of nine examples of Sauvignon Blanc  from the 2010 vintage, none of which were included in the last Wine magazine Top 10 competition.

I reviewed the wines with James Pietersen, regular taster for Platter’s and beverage manager for Belthatzar and Balducci’s restaurants at the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town. Using Riedel Restaurant Series stemware, we tasted blind with scoring done according to the 20-point system and here’s how the wines ranked (individual taster’s score below each wine):

1. Rietvallei Special Select 2010

Gravel-road dustiness, fynbos and white pepper on the nose. On the palate, there’s great flavour intensity with paprika-like piquancy before a long, dry finish. Towards the greener end of the flavour spectrum but by no means unripe, this is signature South African Sauvignon Blanc.
CE 18 JP 18