On our first visit to the St. Supery Vineyard during our honeymoon in 2003, we were impressed with their white wines, particularly their Sauvignon Blanc.
On our return late last year, we wasted little time in signing up for their wine club. For about $45 every 2 months we receive 2 bottles of their white Estate wines, medium expensive for us. We received the St. Supery Virtú 2008 in December and got around to trying it with baked Red Snapper with Sweet Potatoes. Those that know us may remember how much Lynda and I have enjoyed St. Hallet Poacher's Blend (Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Riesling), so it was with great expectation that we sat down to taste the Virtú. The 2008 Virtú is a blend of Semillon (57%) and Sauvignon Blanc (43%), and whereas the wine was well made with a good body, initially we thought that the Sauvignon Blanc was inhibited by the Semillon, but after awhile the wine opened up and delivered a complex and creamy finish. Although enjoyable, we didn't think this vintage stood up to Poacher's Blend, so we won't buy any more, however, we'll probably try next year's vintage to see if there's any improvement.
Here's what St. Supery themselves say about the wine. "This Virtú has a rich and luscious style with aromas of peach and ripe cantaloupe. Flavors of peaches and nectarines are completely filled out with a subtle mineral quality. This is a great bottle of wine!"
Whilst doing research for this post, I came across a tasting performed by a group going under the moniker "Wine and Beer of Washington State" who sampled Virtú last July, they don't say which vintage, but I suspect it was the much proclaimed 2006 (52% Sauvignon Blanc, 48% Semillon). Anyway, here's what they said:
"The Virtu is a Sauvignon Blanc – Semillion (sic) blend and it caused the most debate by far at the table. Ed went hmm when he first smelled this wine followed by “wow” after sipping. He tweeted about it knocking his socks off. Then the debates began and continued through out the evening. We debated the Sauvignon Blanc vs the Virtu over aroma, flavors and pairing. A big aspect of the debate revolved how the wine changed over time in the glass and off the ice. The nose on this wine can be subtle when well chilled, but becomes complex with layers of stone fruit,watermelon and cedar per Ed. The St Supery Virtu is bright with balance fruit then evolves into this lovely creamy finish. This is a rich wine that pairs well with rich foods. We savored this wine with the Coconut Curry Soup from St Supery and Oysters ala Ed. Everyone really enjoyed the Virtu with the modified Oysters Rockefeller and those oysters were slurped up in a hurry! With the soup, I prefered (sic) the more complex Virtu over the more straight forward Sauvignon Blanc but it was the Virtu and oyster pairing that made me sigh and smile. Both the Virtu and the oysters had these complex layers of flavor and aromas but the pairing worked because none of those layers overpowered the other. The Virtu was a wine we kept going back to. It wasn’t a favorite for everyone, but it Virtu had dedicated and vocal fans at the table and across the country."
