2022 Whitehaven Greg Sauvignon Blanc
$28.00
TASTING NOTE
Colour / Appearance: Pale lemon-green, with bright clarity.
Aroma / Bouquet: Our 2022 Greg Sauvignon Blanc offers a refined, pure, and distinctive expression of the Awatere Valley sub region. It has fresh and lifted aromas of green-gage plums, currants, red capsicum, gentle herbaceous notes and wet-rock mineral notes.
Palate: Weighty, textured with ripely herbaceous flavours, green pepper, and layers of white peach, boxwood, and a subtle suggestion of sea salt. The palate is concentrated yet showing excellent delicacy and purity. The finish is tightly structured with a minerally streak and a lingering acidity.
Cellaring: We recommend drinking our Greg Sauvignon Blanc while it is young and fresh, but the wine can develop nicely beyond five years if carefully cellared. Serve slightly chilled.
Food Match: A perfect accompaniment to fresh seafood, summer salads, grilled herbed chicken, and creamy goat cheese.
Serve: Lightly chilled.
The ‘Greg’ range is dedicated to the memory of our founder Greg White, 1952-2007.
WINE ANALYSIS
Alcohol: 13.5
Residual Sugar: 1.8 g/L
Titratable Acidity: 7.6 g/L
pH: 3.3
VITICULTURE
Harvest Date: 26th March and 3rd April 2022
Varieties: 100% Sauvignon Blanc, MS clone.
Grape Growers: The Peter family, Alton Downs Vineyard, Awatere Valley.
Climate: The 2022 growing season started with soil moisture at capacity, following an unusually wet winter which had seen flooding in parts of the region. Pleasingly, the region did not suffer any major frost events and despite conditions in November being a little wet, the warmth that went with it meant that flowering was not drawn out and resulted in good fruit set and the prospect of healthy yields. The remainder of the season was punctuated by cooler weather and rainfall events and we were vigilant around disease pressure as we entered the harvest period. Harvest was later this year and Brix accumulation was slow. We experienced another rain event in the final third of March which then required us to harvest as quickly as possible in many blocks in order to retain pure fruit expression. This is where Whitehaven’s new receival building came to the fore, allowing greater throughput while maintaining the quality focus and attention to detail that Whitehaven prides itself on.
Grape Growing: We are proud to source the fruit for this wine from a single vineyard in the Awatere valley, a legacy that has continued for a number of years.
Vines are pruned to between two and three canes on a vertical shoot positioned trellis. Shoot thinning, leaf plucking, and trimming are used to achieve balanced vines, a healthy canopy and clean fruit. In 2022, the fruit was sourced from two adjoining blocks at the vineyard, harvested approximately one week apart.
WINEMAKING
Winemaking: Fruit from Alton Downs Vineyard was machine harvested in cool evening and pressed immediately with minimal skin contact. After cold settling, the clear juice was fermented in stainless steel tanks at 16°C – 12°C with selected yeast strains to preserve pure sub regional characters and varietal flavours. Wine sat on light yeast lees in tank for up to 2 months. The wine has been heat and cold stabilised, and sterile filtered, prior to bottling.
ACCOLADES
- A crisp and complex sauvignon with more of a Loire vibe with sliced lemon, pear, light grass, and herb character in both the nose and palate. Medium body. Crisp and clean. James Suckling, 92/100 Pts.
- A powerful and pungent bouquet bursting with aromas of fresh peach and gooseberry, lime-flower, lemon and apple. The herbaceous layer releases aromas of fresh and dried basil then some elderflower and lemon peel. All these scents turn into flavours reflecting the bouquet an enhanced with a back bone of acidity, there’s a whisper of savoury spice and a youthful fresh energy. Well made and drinking well from 2023 through 2030. 94 Points, Excellent.
- 2023 Mundus Vini Spring Tasting, GOLD
- Carolyn Evans Hammond, 93/100
- 'Greg' Sauvignon Blanc is a fitting tribute to one of the visionaries who founded Whitehaven Wines in Marlborough: the late Greg White. The wine is flinty and herbaceous with the subtlest hints of tropical fruit and is made entirely from grapes grown in the windy, cooler climate of Awatere Valley, in South Marlborough's Wairau Plains. It is an outstanding expression of complex Sauvignon Blanc made at a surprisingly affordable price. Joelle Thomson, 18.5/20.
