Speaker 1

Hey , domain Dave CheapWineFindercom with another wine review or podcast for a wine review . We write up three wine reviews of value-priced wines a week on the CheapWineFindercom website . Been doing it for pretty much forever and then we talk about it when we plug in our microphone and do the podcast . And today I've got kind of a cool one from a really , if anybody's a rock star winemaker , this guy is a rock star winemaker . And this is the Locations NZ Sauvignon Blanc , release number 12 . Locations NZ NZ is the . You know , if you get one of those little stickers in the back of your car , that's new zealand and he does these . Uh , france , spain , italy , where he makes wines , uh , from these regions , but in his own style , not by the rules and regulations of where they're at . And so who is dave finney ?

Speaker 1

Dave finney was the man behind the Prisoner wines the Prisoner still around , still good . But when Dave Finney was around , when it started out , these wines were like $50 and up and they would fly off the shelves . They were this really ripe , juicy , flavorful wines . They sold like crazy . Normally you get these . You know these hot wines are under 20 , but this was an expensive wine and he sold the company for a couple hundred million dollars and he started in Orange Swift and you might see Orange Swift they're another really hot wine that really really kind of cool labels . There's a kiosk of Orange Swift wines in the wine aisle of my local Target . So that tells you a little bit about Dave Finney . Not only are these expensive wines because I think the Oran Swift are anywhere from like 35 to 70 . You know you don't get too many wine connoisseurs , or at least in percentage-wise shop in Target target , but these are really good wines and enough to be in a aisle kiosk . And he sold that to , uh , ian j gallo , the largest family-owned winery , and he's still the winemaker there and he's still working with ian j gallo . I mean , he's they just doing fancy wines .

Speaker 1

I'm gonna take a sip of this sabian blanc from new zealand and we'll get onto this one . Yeah , so this is the um , the new zealand sabian block , and um , most of the grapes came from the waru valley , which I I think is pronounced Don't ask me , I don't speak New Zealand , that's a joke and from the upper and the lower valley . So you're getting some higher altitude and some lower , which gives a nice variety , because where grapes are grown changes things and it's a non-vintage wine . This is the 12th release , which I'm not sure what that's all about . And they say they usually New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc , or any Sauvignon Blanc , is really almost farm-to-market type of thing .

Speaker 1

You pick the grapes , you have your own special ways of fermenting them , but when you're fermenting them you do it in stainless steel . Except for Bordeaux , where they can get fancy , that's Bordeaux Blanc , but you do it quick and you don't do a lot of aging and off it goes . But here he's done some things where he's balanced it and he's made everything really juicy and delicious and flavorful . And he says it's minimal aging . But if you have wines from different vintages , they got to be different ages , so they got to be aged . So I'm not sure what's going on there , but it's just got flavor .

Speaker 1

And actually I just took a sip and I'm getting tangerine , which I wasn't getting before cuz I was getting an apple and coconut milk and what else here ? Melon , peach and pear , a little bit of spiciness to it , nectarine , tropical fruit yeah , it's good , it's really good . It tastes great . The acidity is seamless . It's good , it's really good , it tastes great . The acidity is seamless , it's in there , it's not too much , it's not too little . It's right where it's supposed to be , which is why Dave Finney is a rock star winemaker . I mean it's just like .

Speaker 1

This is a really nice effort . This is above and beyond . And considering that most of his wines are in the $50 range you know , $45 to $70 , maybe higher this at $17 , just because it's a Sauvignon Blanc . This is the same guy and the vineyards he's picking are top notch , so you're getting a bargain by getting this guy to make you wine . It's just a Sauvignon Blanc , a crowd pleaser from New England , new Zealand , not New England . Their wines are so-so , but yeah , I mean this is . You know , $17 is a lot . I can get it cheaper , yeah , you can , but you can't get Dave Finney making it for you . And this is E&J . Gallo has a couple , has two or three of their own Sauvignon Blancs . All of them are pretty good . I think Starborough and Winter Haven are all gallows , but this one's above and beyond .

Speaker 1

This is really good . I mean just the balance , just how everything sets into place , how the acidity kicks right in . Let's take another sip . We'll take another sip . Yeah , I mean this is a delicious wine . I mean , if you want to have people over and you want them to . You know , if you want to show off a wine , this is the cheapest you can get to do that . I mean , $17 is like this is you got a wine snap , they're going to be going , oh , this is good . And if you got someone who doesn't know a thing about wine , they're going to think , oh wow , wine's way better than I thought it was . So this is a good wine .

Speaker 1

This is the Locations NZ Sauvignon Blanc , release number 12 . I don't know how many times they release it and I don't know why it's not a vintage wine . But that's fine with me . As long as a winemaker makes those good decisions , I don't have a say in the matter , and so I'm going to actually try out some of his other ones . He doesn't follow the rules .

Speaker 1

I think the French one I haven't had it in a while he had different areas . It was like some bordeaux , some languedoc , some , you know , some roussillon , you know , all in the same thing , which french winemakers in the past would never do . They're starting to doing that now . He kind of opened things up , and the italian one would be different areas and a guy doing it his own way and doing a good job doing his own way . So there you go . Um locations , new zealand and z savion blanc . The uh , the label looks like those stickers you put in the back of your car . Uh , you know your fr for france and all that type of thing . It's fun , it drinks great , it's easy to drink and it's a really good wine . So , and it doesn't cost much . It's's actually a bargain , all things considered . Who you got making the wine ? Because the winemaker is a big deal . So there you go . Keep it cheap . Adios Domain Dave Cheap wine Better likecom Like us , we like your podcast . Keep it cheap . Stay warm . It's going to be 50 in a couple days .