This wine comes from a small hillside parcel on the southeast boundary of the township of Blenheim. The vineyard is run by Perry and Stephanie Gilbert, who also live on the property, ensuring great attention to detail.

The north-facing aspect means that the grapes receive as much sunshine hours as possible helping them to ripen well and are often some of the earlier grapes of our vintage. The soil structure has a higher percentage of clay, which we have found gives extra weight and interest to the palate, adding texture and suppleness to the wine.

The grapes were hand-picked, whole-cluster pressed and taken straight to French barriques without any chemical additions. It was fermented with indigenous yeast in the barrels, helping to add complexity and texture, without dominating the nose.

The wine was left on yeast lees for eleven months, which were stirred regularly. This meant that the yeast added both savoury notes and also served to work as a natural fining agent. After time in barrique it was gently racked then bottled without fining.

VARIETY: Sauvignon Blanc
WINEGROWING TEAM: Brian Bicknell, Pat Patterson, Phoebe Cathcart, our focused growers, and brilliant vintage staff
ALCOHOL: 14.3%
TITRATABLE ACIDITY: 7.4 g/L
RESIDUAL SUGAR: 2.0 g/L
BRIX AT HARVEST: 23.4
HARVEST: Hand-picked, 28 March

TASTING NOTE