From the Phaedrus estate in the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria comes the Mister Wolf range of wines. These are the “entry level” wines that seem to have been made with value for money as the primary driving force.

The description on the back of the bottle pokes a bit of good-humoured fun at the NZ industry for their style of Sauvignon Blanc and perhaps with reason. This particular wine is far removed from the clean, crisp Sauvignon Blanc that has made regions of New Zealand famous. (Side note: we have travelled NZ wine tasting and consider their Riesling to often be better than the Sauvignon Blanc but very much under-appreciated over here in Australia for a reason that remains something of a mystery).

On the plus side: This wine is well priced at $17 per bottle, less if you join the wine club. The tropical nose and multi-dimension palate ensure that this is not a boring wine to drink.

But… There is quite a herbaceous finish to this wine, with the pineapple flavours taking over from the peach/lychee flavours that come at the front. Some passionfruit comes to the party before some lemongrass or grapefruit flavours finish the experience. The finish is a bit on the sour side, which is a pity because the complexity is well above what we expected given the price.

On balance: Given the price, this is a good value wine if you are a fan of dry white wines. You will either need to visit the winery in person (which is a great experience if you have some other wineries to visit) or order yourself a case of 12. Whether or not the walkabout crew members will be restocking after our current dozen is drunk is uncertain; especially as Sauvignon Blanc is not one of our go-to white wines at the moment.