Winemaker Notes
Ripe peach and candied citrus notes are layered with a subtle elderflower approach. Intensely rich, yet balanced, the palate offers weight and texture. Elegant, structured acid complements the juicy notes with good tension. A nod from the terroir, a stony minerality leaves a lengthy and full-bodied finish.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 Otira Glacial Stones Sauvignon Blanc is texturally sophisticated, pure and energetic, with back-palate-weighted spices, chalky phenolics and white-scale fruits. This is a restrained, long and persistent wine, and once again, I do love it. This comes highly recommended.
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James Suckling
A clear and balanced sauvignon blanc with sliced spiced pears, apples and lemons and some flint on both the nose and palate. Medium-bodied with attractive citrus highlights to the aromas above.
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Wine Enthusiast
A vibrant light gold color, this complex Sauvignon, from one of Marlborough's top producers, is, frankly, a bargain for the quality. There's a thread of salty, flinty minerality that runs through white grapefruit, lime and passion fruit notes. A pithy, crunchy texture and a punch of citrus flavor lingers on the long finish. A classy drop.
Editors' Choice
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.