Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is super pungent, all-guns-blazing sauvignon with reductive notes matched to intense passion fruit and other tropical fruit. The palate has a neat core of sweet-fruit flavor, nicely played against handy acidity. Well pitched.
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Decanter
Attractive varietal nose; peppery and spicy, green apple and lime cordial. Bright, fresh and flavorsome palate with crisp citrus and passion fruit flavors.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A bit grassier and more herbal than the Private Bin, the 2018 Cellar Selection Sauvignon Blanc also ratchets up the intensity level, offering passion fruit, nectarine, and pink grapefruit notes, medium body and a crisp, vibrant finish.
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.