WINES
Sauvignon Blanc
Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is responsible for putting New Zealand on the world wine map and introducing elegant, cool climate wines to the world. Marlborough’s warm days and cool nights create an extended growing season allowing the grapes to develop beautiful acidity. This balances the intense varietal characteristics of ripe grapefruit, white nectarine, and tropical fruits resulting in an elegant, refreshing, crisp flavoursome wine that distinctly says Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. Try this wine with fresh seafood, shellfish, sashimi or fresh asparagus with hollandaise sauce.
Learn More About This Varietal
Tasting Notes
Sourced exclusively from our oldest Sauvignon Blanc block, this is a wine that tempers intense fruit concentration with finesse, elegance and restraint. Characteristic tropical fruits and citrus combine with more subtle dried herb and floral notes, the palate is refined and balanced with mineral acidity providing focus and length in combination with textural elements from barrel fermentation and ageing.
Vintage Overview
Warm settled weather in spring and early summer provided great conditions for flowering and fruit set, resulting in yields more aligned with the long-term average than in previous vintages.
The classic dry windy weather which Marlborough normally experiences throughout summer was replaced this year with extended periods of cloud cover and rainfall, causing some initial concern from the viticulture and winemaking teams. However, once ripening commenced the weather settled and remained fine and windy throughout harvest.
The increased soil moisture ultimately resulted in excellent canopy development and overall vine health, alleviating any initial disease concerns, and the reduced sunshine hours and cooler daily temperatures helped slow and extend the ripening period resulting in wines of intense concentration and poise. Harvesting progressed smoothly with the favourable weather conditions allowing the winemakers to hang the bunches out on the vine to achieve optimum ripeness, with picking commencing in the third week of March and completed before the end of April.
Vinification
Harvested in the cool hours of the morning bunches were gently destemmed and
pressed, followed by spontaneous fermentation in a combination of stainless steel tanks and French oak barriques. Extended time on lees post fermentation, combined with partial malolactic fermentation in barrel provides additional texture and palate weight, followed by finishing and bottling on the Wairau River estate.
Flavour Profile
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Tropical fruit
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Citrus
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Herbal
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Floral
Technical Data
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Alc
13%
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TA
8.4 g/L
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pH
3.25
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RS
2.1 g/L
Harvested April 2023
Vineyard Composition
Regional Overview
The Wairau Valley is one of three zones – along with the Southern Valleys and the Awatere Valley – which make up the heartland of New Zealand's Marlborough wine region. It accounts for approximately 45 percent of plantings within the wider region. An extensive patchwork of vineyards surrounds the town of Blenheim in the north-eastern corner of the South Island, near where the Wairau River meets the Pacific Ocean.
The Wairau Valley is a wide river valley that follows the Wairau River from the Spenser Mountains in the west to the Pacific at Cloudy Bay. The Richmond Mountains in the north separate it from the sunny region of Nelson, and the Wither Hills in the south protect the valley from harsh weather systems from the south-east.
In the low-lying area along the Wairau River Rapaura and Renwick are the most established zones. However in recent years vineyard plantings have extended further west along the narrow valley floor.
Wairau Valley has a warm, dry climate that is moderated during the growing season by sea breezes from Cloudy Bay. Hot sunshine during the day and cold ocean winds at night extend the ripening period in the grapes, leading to a balance of fruit complexity and acidity. This diurnal temperature variation is essential to the terroir in the Wairau Valley – without it, much of the classic punchiness of the wines made here would be lost.
Reviews
Varietal FAQs
Where are your wines made?
All our wines are made on site in our winery. We draw fruit from our 15 estate vineyards, which means they are owned by us. We built our winery in 2002.
Is your Sauvignon Blanc dry?
We make 2 styles of Sauvignon Blanc and both styles are dry. Marlborough is known for out the glass zestyness and stunningly aromatic tropical fruits with bright citrus and stone fruit notes. Our Estate Sauvignon Blanc expresses all these characters with elegance and our Reserve Sauvignon Blanc has had some barrel fermentation which gives some added complexity and brioche notes in the wine
How can I keep the wine fresh once a bottle has been opened?
To keep an open bottle of wine fresh, ensure the cap is tightly sealed after every glass pour. Our white wines and rosé should be stored, cap on, in a refrigerator to slow down oxidisation. For our red wines, keep the wine bottle out of light and stored at room temperature (below 21 degrees Celsius or 70 degrees Fahrenheit), or in a refrigerator.
How long will your wine last when opened?
White wines are good for 1-2 days and red wines for 3-5 days if stored correctly.
