Name: Mercer Wine Estates
Price range: $

White tea, spring flowers, lychee, honeycomb and pineapple core. With air, it shows tense and chalky with raw baking spices, white peach and sugarcane. The palate is polished and angular with tropical fruits, white tea and chalky tannin with terrific persistence.

Vintage Notes

The 2017 Tenor Sauvignon Blanc was crafted from a single vineyard in Washington State along the Royal Slope in the Columbia Valley. Farmed using sustainable practices, the vines were hand-harvested over several early mornings in the late fall. Upon arriving in the winery, each cluster was hand-sorted, berry-sorted, macerated for 24-48 hours, and then 100% barrel fermented. Using only the free-run wine, it was then moved to 100% new Austrian Stockinger 600L puncheons with 45 mm thick extra tight grain Austrian oak staves for cellaring. After over 40 individual evaluations by our winemaking team, these puncheons were selected and bottled, resulting in only 120 cases.

Expert Reviews & Scores

Sean Sullivan, Wine Enthusiast

92 / 100

Cellar Selection. Barrel fermented and aged in 600 L puncheons, this 100% varietal wine was macerated on skins for over 24 hours. The aromas intrigue, with notes of lemon pith, wet granite, papaya, herb, grapefruit and the underside of a pineapple. The palate is full, almost creamy in feel, redolent with tropical fruit, herb and citrus flavors, carrying some heft. It extends on the finish. A stylistic interpretation of the variety, it should do well with a bit of time in the cellar, drinking best on its third day open.

Trade Materials