White wine....

Some of you that may read this blog regularly may have clocked that my wife and I had another kid late last year. Having learned from the first time around that its a lot of work, this time we made the decision to fly in my parents. For 2 months.

It was, how shall I put it? Nice at times and nasty at others? I haven't spent more than 2 consecutive months with my parents since I was 7 (boarding school and all that), and yes it was tough at times, but really nice to have the help at other times!

My dad is a bit of a wine snob, by a bit, I mean a lot. He continuously turns his nose up at Canadian wines and then acts all surprised when he says, "Actually that was surprisingly good". Every time. Here in Oman, the wine selection is surprisingly wide (but obviously quite pricey) and after a week or two my dad and I came upon a fun idea: Whats the best Sauvignon Blanc for under a fiver here in Muscat?

I should explain to you all right here that I'm not a big wine drinker, and so my opinions don't count, they're all my parents, and a few people who came to visit and try a few too. There are a few more than ten Sauvignon Blanc wines available in Muscat, and we had tried a few from A&E before deciding to make up this game, but we selected these ten (and noted that none of the ones we had from A&E before this were better than the top 4):

Cuvee Sabourin [France]
Montrouge [France]
Valdivieso [Chile]
Nederburg [SA] (This was the biggest selling wine in terms of volume in the Middle East last year apparently)
Jinda-Lee [Australia]
Frontera [Chile]
Porcupine Ridge [SA]
Casillero del Diablo [Chile]
Montes [Chile]

I'm not going to even attempt to try and write a review on these wines, I'm just going to share the top 3 wines, and the runner up, that was voted best by my parents - not a particularly highly scientific piece of research but fun to do, and relevant for those of us here in Muscat that do enjoy a glass of wine.

First place: The Valdivieso from Chile - it was even better the second day, after it had been opened and stored in the fridge. OUA - RO 4.500

Second place: Cuvee Sabourin from France - not quite as good the second day, but still a very nice wine. OUA - RO 3.800

Third place: Montes from Chile - the Chilean wine seems to travel well, and was also very good the next day after it had been opened. A&E - RO 5.000.

And as a runner-up, the Australian wine, Jinda-Lee (which Mrs Sythe thinks sounds like a porn star name) was a good wine, just not as good as the three above.  OUA - RO 4.500

I should point out that there are of course a lot more Sauv Blanc's on offer for under a fiver, but we only went through these ten, which we think is every single one available at OUA and DTC, but perhaps missed one or two from A&E, and hey - you can disagree all you like, but there we go :)


More soon!

le fin.