Winemaker Notes
With peach and pineapple dancing on the palate, followed by layers of citrus and florality, it is not your typical NZ Sauvignon Blanc.
Vegan-Friendly
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
This wine glistens with bright acidity accented by pink grapefruit and just-sliced pineapple. Candied green apple punctuates the midpalate with appealing salinity and crispness.
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Vinous
This is not your average 2023 Sauvignon Blanc. It's aromatically intriguing, with different layers appearing with every sniff. Initially, there are notes of medicinal herbs, followed by blackcurrant, green capsicum, passion fruit and even lime. Perhaps the diversity of scents could be attributed to the combination of fermentations across tanks, oak barrels, concrete eggs and amphorae. The palate is focused on texture: there's reassuring padding on the mid-palate despite being light in body, while there's drive and punch on the dry, herbal finish.
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Wine Spectator
A distinctive white, with white pepper and lemongrass notes, plus a whiff of lemon mint that adds aromatic interest to the core of lemon-lime and apple on a smooth and juicy frame. Demonstrates elegance on the finish. Drink now. 35,000 cases imported.
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.