Álvarez y Diez / Mantel Blanco, Rudea (Castilla y León, Spain) Sauvignon Blanc 2022

 This wine always runs neck-and-neck in my estimation with the same house’s superb Verdejo, but this year I prefer the Verdejo by a nose.  It shows lightly grassy and herbal aromatic topnotes, with a mix of melon and citrus fruit flavors that ride through the wine’s finish alongside fine balancing acidity.  This is weightier than Sancerre, and more closely akin to Sauvignons from California in that respect, but with better freshness and lift.  It shares that characteristic with most New Zealand Sauvignons, but without the tropical flavors or residual sugar that seems to creep a little higher every year in what the Kiwis are shipping to the USA.  In brief, this is very successful when measured against its global counterparts, with more character for less money than the vast majority of Sauvignon Blancs.