Wairau River Sauvignon Blanc 2021
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Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is responsible for putting New Zealand on the world wine map and introducing elegant, cool climate wines to the world. Marlborough’s warm days and cool nights create an extended growing season allowing the grapes to develop beautiful acidity. This balances the intense varietal characteristics of ripe grapefruit, white nectarine, and tropical fruits resulting in an elegant, refreshing, crisp flavoursome wine that distinctly says Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. Try this wine with fresh seafood, shellfish, sashimi or fresh asparagus with hollandaise sauce.
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Guava, passion fruit, waxy citrus and green herbs comprise the nose on this pungent, youthful Sauvignon. The mouthfeel is slippery yet chalky and has lifted—though thankfully not overly shrill—acidity and the beginnings of a lovely texture, carving the juicy fruit through to the finish. Give this another six to eight months for all that acidity and sulfur to settle, and then drink over the next few years.
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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.