Winemaker Notes
Sourced entirely from vineyards located in Southern Marlborough’s spectacular Awatere Valley, this vibrant wine displays aromas of citrus zest and underlying notes of freshly crushed herbs. The palate is layered with flavors of sweet pineapple, crunchy green apple, and supporting notes of fresh lime and pink grapefruit. With outstanding fruit concentration balanced with zesty underlying minerality, this lively, fresh wine leads to a pure, and focused dry finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Very pretty aromas of green melon and dried lemons follow through to a medium body with focused fruit as well as stone undertones. Medium finish. A precise and refined sauvignon blanc with tension.
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Wine Enthusiast
A zippy burst of waxy lime peel, passionfruit and lemongrass aromas—with white florals and dried herbal nuances behind—leads to an ultra fresh, well balanced palate with tangy, tongue-tingling acidity and lovely flavor intensity: those mouth-watering citrus flavors lingering on the finish.
Best Buy -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2024 Tohu Sauvignon Blanc Awatere Valley is an intensely concentrated, texturally clothy/waxy wine, with dried herbs, white strawberry, pineapple husk, quinine-like freshness to the acidity and a coastal sort of capaciousness to the mid-palate. These are all good things. It's an unexpected wine if I'm honest—it's not the usual "tropical fruits" of Marlborough, but it still speaks of the place, albeit in an Awatere frame. This is good, if a little slick through the finish. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.
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.