2020 Whitehaven Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc
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TASTING NOTE
Colour / Appearance: Pale lemon with a green hue.
Aroma / Bouquet: An enticing amalgam of tropical fruits, blackcurrant, nectarine, lime and grapefruit underscored with complexing hints of jalapeno and gooseberry.
Palate: A full flavoured, elegantly structured wine, with flavours of blackcurrant, boxwood, citrus and stonefruit. Attractive crushed leaf and mouth watering wet river stone notes enhance the lingering, textured finish.
Cellaring: We recommend drinking our 2020 Sauvignon Blanc while it is young and fresh, but the wine is capable of developing nicely over the next three to five years if carefully cellared.
Food Match: This wine is a perfect accompaniment to fresh seafood, including Marlborough’s famous green-shell mussels. The wine will also pair nicely with summer salads, poultry and goat’s cheese.
Serve: Lightly chilled.
WINE ANALYSIS
Alcohol: 13.0
Residual Sugar: 3.0 g/L
Titratable Acidity: 6.6 g/L
pH: 3.15
VITICULTURE
Harvest Date: 17th March – 7th April, 2020
Grape Growing: Fruit for this wine is sourced widely and entirely from within Marlborough’s sub regions. Vines are pruned to between two and four canes on a vertical shoot positioned trellis. Shoot thinning, leaf plucking, trimming and crop thinning are used to achieve balanced vines and an open, healthy canopy and clean fruit.
Climate: 2020 was a classical growing season with plenty of sunshine, not too much heat through Summer and a return to cool nights preceding harvest, ensuring acidities and flavours remained bright and vibrant. This was all built on good rainfall pre Christmas, which set the vines up with healthy working canopies that held through to the end of harvest. The weather over harvest was settled and dry, allowing fruit to be harvested in lovely conditions.
WINEMAKING
Winemaking: The fruit was machine harvested in cool evening conditions, and pressed immediately with minimal skin contact. After settling, the clear juice was fermented at very low temperatures with selected yeast strains to preserve the inherent varietal flavours. The wine was fermented entirely in stainless steel.
ACCOLADES
- 2020 New Zealand International Wine Show: Gold
- 2021 Concours Mondial Du Sauvignon: Gold
- 2021 Sakura Japan Women’s Wine Awards: Gold
- 2021 Royal Easter Show Wine Awards: Gold
- "Ripe, fleshy and ripe tropical fruited bouquet with aromas of apple and grapefruit, mango and fresh lychee. On the palate - crisp, tense, fresh, fruity and dry. A classically style wine with a core of citrus and tropical fruits contrasted with high acidity and fruit spice. Balanced, fresh, well made and ready. best drinking from today and through 2024+." 92/100 Points, Cam Douglas, NZ
- "This is brilliantly expressed on the nose showing feijoa, kiwifruit, Gala apple and lemon peel aromas, followed by a punchy palate that's juicy and flavoursome. The wine offers terrific fruit purity backed by bright acidity, finishing impressively long and delicious. At its best: now to 2023." 94/100 Points, Sam Kim, NZ
- 'Soft, ripe, fruity sauvignon blanc with passionfruit, guava, melon and subtle red capsicum flavours supported by gentle acidity. Appealing purity and a silken texture.' 90/100 Points, Bob Campbell, NZ
- "Classic, punchy, passionfruit-packed and citrus-saturated Sauvignon Blanc here from one of Marlborough’s original wine families. Its whipcrack acidity gives it a cleansing, texture and accentuates the basil, lime and tomato leaf layers. It’s a soothing, saucy wine that’ll satisfy even the fussiest of crowds." 4.5 Stars, Yvonne Lorkin, NZ
