McCall Wines, located in Cutchogue in the heart of North Fork wine country, has made sauvignon blanc for a few years now — but up until now it was always with fruit grown by someone else. That changes with the newly released McCall Wines 2015 “Nicola’s Cuvee” Sauvignon Blanc ($24), which is the winery’s first home-grown sauvignon blanc, as well as this week’s Wine of the Week.
The fruit that went into this wine was grown in McCall’s North Ridge Vineyard — a vineyard formerly known as Andy’s Field when it was part of Gristina property.
I tend to eschew the hyperbolic in my reviews, but the first thing I wrote down in my notebook when tasting this wine was “Wow!”
There is a minerally, stony edge to a nose that is dominated by ripe, but not over-ripe, passtionfruit and citrus with just a bit of honeydew melon.
Nicely concentrated fruit flavors — grapefruit, passionfruit and more melon — are framed by well-integrated acidity that provides cut and energy. This is a sauvignon blanc that is focused, but also broad, with a long, gritty pear finish.
Available in the tasting room starting this week for $24, this wine was also available in kegs — a first for the winery — that sold out quickly. They winery will build up on the success of that pilot program next year.