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MARLBOROUGH SAUVIGNON BLANC 2011
 The focus with this wine is to provide a drink that has texture and depth, rather than focussing solely on primary fruit notes. We want a wine that satisfies across the palate, and employ a number of techniques to achieve this.
Our Sauvignon this year comes from six different vineyards, all of them giving particular attributes to the final wine. In order to attain greater texture we pick ripe fruit, wanting texture rather than primary fruit on the nose. This year the first fruit for the blend was picked from the stoney portion of the Wadworth vineyard, and finished with a late portion from the Guernsey block.
The hand-picked fruit was whole-cluster pressed so that the time on skins was minimised. A portion of this juice was barrel-fermented in older French oak to give greater weight, though ensuring that wood is not evident on the nose. The balance of the wine was fermented cool to retain the fruit characters from our vineyards.
The final blend was made solely from free-run juice, as we feel it gives a more elegant and subtle wine, a key for us.
Each year the fruit is slightly different and so the blending is constantly interesting. This year the barrel and wild portions account for 7% of the blend, which we felt gave a good balance.
The fruit intensity allowed this and we will keep assessing the blends on an annual basis, aiming to make 'real' wines that express our vineyards and personalities.
| Variety: |
Sauvignon Blanc |
| Winegrowing team: |
Brian Bicknell, Pat Patterson, our focussed growers and brilliant vintage staff |
| Alcohol: |
13.5% |
| Total acidity: |
7.5 g/l |
| Residual sugar: |
2.1 g/l |
| Brix at harvest: |
22.2 – 25.1 |
| Harvest period: |
April 4 to April 20 |
Download complete tasting notes in PDF format
 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2011
Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2010
Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2009
Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2008
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