Print this Wine         1998 Pikes Sauvignon Blanc   POLISH HILL RIVER, CLARE VALLEY                 January Release   Sauvignon Blanc       Ask Neil Pike when he last made a bad wine and his natural modesty will prevail and he will probably mutter something to effect that he is always trying to do his best and sometimes things don’t work out to please everyone. Ask any person who is familiar with his range of wines and they will be far more forthright, and state categorically that he would not know how to make a bad wine and that he continues to improve the quality of his whole range with each succeeding vintage. The Clare Valley, with its warm summer heat might be almost too hot for Sauvignon Blanc, except for the dramatic temperature drop in the evening. This allows the vines respite from the heat and effectively slows the ripening process. In turn this allows the development of tropical fruit flavors so typical of quality Sauvignon Blanc. Indeed on the bouquet the wine displays guava, passionfruit and pineapple with an overtone fresh cool cape gooseberry. This is not a green, grassy style, although there is a mineral, slate like component, but overall the wine is clean, fresh and ripe. There is nothing but the fresh fruit on the palate. By no means a complex wine the intensity of the fruit is exhilarating. There is plenty of tingling acidity at the back of the palate. This further highlights the freshness of the wine and gives extra length to the finish. Given the high level of acidity at the back of the palate you may think that the wine has aging potential. This is not so, however, and the wine is best consumed whilst it is full of the fresh, vibrant fruit of youth. Fresh seafood, either molluscs or crusteacea, without much done to them are best suited to this wine. Freshly shucked oysters or scallops roasted on the shells and dressed only with pepper and a squeeze of lime juice would be near perfect partners to this vibrant, racy wine.

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