From the winemaker…
Seductive aromas of homemade apricot jam, vanilla cake and candied lemon peel mingle with a tarragon-like herbal quality, scents of dried meadow hay and a whiff of flintiness. Fermented entirely with naturally occurring yeast, this is a ‘wild child’ sauvignon that is both intricate and textural, with a generous, succulent palate that is packed with stonefruit and citrus – a luscious style, yet crisp and dry, with remarkable ageing potential.
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).
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 three-quarters 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 2020 with alcohol 14.0%, pH 3.11 and acidity 6.2 g/l.
