Álvarez y Diez, Rueda (Castilla y León, Spain) Sauvignon Blanc 2021

The 2021 rendition of this wine is every bit the equal of this producer’s Verdejo, which is saying something, as the Verdejo is terrific in this vintage, and my experience indicates that Verdejo is the superior variety in the terroir of Rueda, even though Sauvignon has more cachet internationally.  Be that as it may, this wine trumpets its virtues at high volume, and there’s no denying them:  Richness on the level of what one would expect from top global sources for this style such as Collio in Italy or South Styria in Austria, but with excellent balance based on varietally-indicative herbal and citrus notes.  This is very close to as rich and ripe as I like my Sauvignon, so my personal preference would be to drink this over the next 6 to 8 months, and then keep an eye open for what this producer manages in 2022.