Winemaker Notes
Distinctive aromas of gooseberry and passionfruit dominate with hints of lime and tropical fruits. Layers of tropical fruit flavours are enhanced by the well balanced and refreshing zingy acid and lingering seductive finish.
A wonderful match when served with New Zealand green shell mussels, served with a coriander broth lightly spiced with chilli.
Traditional crushing and destemming is undertaken before pressing and de-juicing, then immediate chilling to cold settle and remove any solids. The cold juice is then racked to stainless steel fermenters and warmed to ambient temperature before inoculation with selected yeast strains and cold fermentation. At the completion of fermentation, the wine is racked from the fermentation lees and stablised prior to early bottling to retain the fresh and vibrant characters. This wine has been sealed with Stelvin screw cap closures as an added assurance of flavour purity.
"Juicy, mouthwatering, vibrant with lemon, quince and mineral aromas and flavors, persisting impressively on the long, expressive finish."
-Wine Spectator
Professional Ratings
Capable of a vast array of styles, Sauvignon Blanc is a crisp, refreshing variety that equally reflects both terroir and varietal character. Though it can vary depending on where it is grown, a couple of commonalities always exist—namely, zesty acidity and intense aromatics. This variety is of French provenance. Somm Secret—Along with Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc is a proud parent of Cabernet Sauvignon. That green bell pepper aroma that all three varieties share is no coincidence—it comes from a high concentration of pyrazines (herbaceous aromatic compounds) inherent to each member of the family.
An icon and leading region of New Zealand's distinctive style of Sauvignon blanc, Marlborough has a unique terroir, making it ideal for high quality grape production (of many varieties). Despite some common generalizations, which could be fairly justified given that Marlborough is responsible for 90% of New Zealand's Sauvignon blanc production, the wines from this region are actually anything but homogenous. At the northern tip of New Zealand’s South Island, the vineyards of Marlborough benefit from well-draining, stony soils, a dry, sunny climate and wide temperature fluctuations between day and night, a phenomenon that supports a perfect balance between berry ripeness and acidity.
The region’s king variety, Sauvignon blanc, is beloved for its pungent, aromatic character with notes of exotic tropical fruit, freshly cut grass and green bell pepper along with a refreshing streak of stony minerality. These wines are made in a wide range of styles, and winemakers take advantage of various clones, vineyard sites, fermentation styles, lees-stirring and aging regimens to differentiate their bottlings, one from one another.
Also produced successfully here are fruit-forward Pinot noirs (especially where soils are clay-rich), elegant Riesling, Pinot gris and Gewürztraminer.