Source: Winemaker

TASTING NOTE An enticing combination of ripe summer fruit, fresh herbs and flowers. Candied citrus peel and honeysuckle, shortbread and brioche, tarragon and lemon thyme. A feast of sweet perfume intertwined with a delicate, smoky nuance. Fermented entirely with naturally occurring yeast, this is an alternative style of sauvignon blanc that is both intricate and textural, with a rich, generous palate that finishes with a flinty dryness.

VITICULTURE Fruit was sourced from various vineyard sites in the Southern Valleys and the central Wairau Plains, specifically in Woodbourne, Renwick and Rapaura. Soil types vary from the young alluvial deposits of Rapaura and Renwick, which contain high proportions of greywacke river stones, to the older and denser clay-loams of the Southern Valleys. A high percentage of the vineyards were trained using the divided Scott Henry canopy management system, with the balance on two- or three-cane VSP (vertical shoot positioning).

WINEMAKING Some vineyards were harvested by machine and others by hand, all into halftonne bins, which were tipped directly into tank presses. The grapes were pressed lightly and the resulting juice was cold-settled prior to racking into mostly old French oak barriques.
The juice was allowed to undergo spontaneous indigenous yeast fermentation, the tail end of which continued for well over six months. The wine had occasional lees stirring and approximately two-thirds underwent malolactic fermentation. It was transferred out of oak prior to the following harvest and left on yeast lees for a further eight months. The wine was bottled in December 2019 with alcohol 13.5%, pH 3.30 and acidity 6.4 g/l.