Alpha Estate Florina Sauvignon Blanc Fume Ecosystem Single Block Kaliva Estate Grown Oak Fermented 2018 750 ML

The 2018 Sauvignon Blanc Fumé Ecosystem Kaliva is Alpha's single-block (Kaliva) Sauvignon Blanc, aged for seven months in new French barriques. It is part of the new "Ecosystem" branding. (Earlier oaked bottlings were typically just called "Barrel Fermented.") It comes in at 13.3% alcohol, 7.2 grams of total acidity and 1.3 of residual sugar—making it nicely dry. This seems unconvincing early on, unable to pull in the wood, but time, air and warmth allowed it to show far better. At that point, it was typical Alpha Sauvignon, with focus and structure, plus some vegetal nuances. The fruit easily triumphed over the wood. It's a little vegetal and invigorating. Overall, this could use more development—it might be better in the summer of 2020. But it looks like another nice effort.