The first year Kevin Judd made his Wild Sauvignon was in 2009 and the winemaking has remained consistent ever since with complexity, creaminess and a full body coming from the 100% barrel fermentation with wild yeasts followed by malolactic fermentation to soften the acidity for two thirds of the wine. It then spends approximately 11 months maturing in barrel and remains in tank for another six months for battonage (the French name for stirring the lees - the decomposing yeast cells left over in the wine).

Silver Wing Ceramic Sauvignon ticks lots of boxes from the funky, earthy aroma notes to the fresh bright acidity that gives Sauvignon Blanc its refreshing edgy flavours. And it also ticks the vegan box. 

Winemaker Andrew Fox focusses on low intervention winemaking methods, including no filtration which may result in lees sediment in the wines, which is harmless and looks like small crystals. 

Silver Wing wines are made by Andrew Fox in the Waipara Valley, North Canterbury.  

This Single Vineyard wine is made from grapes grown at Auntsfield Estate. The style is aimed towards texture, complexity and length, balancing the typical Marlborough fruit spectrum and aromatics with richness and mouth feel. The nose shows intense and pure aromas of fresh passionfruit, ripe melon and lime. The palate is powerful, tight and elegant. This wine displays intense ripe fruit flavours of passionfruit and white peach, with citrus notes of lime and mandarin pith.

Fleshy, complex, creamy and full bodied, this organically certified Sauvignon Blanc is an outstanding take on the popular theme, throwing Sauvignon in a refreshing new, smooth, soft and citrusy light. 

The organic story at Seresin

One of the greatest things about Seresin Estate is the organic certification. This came relatively early on for Seresin, who was dismayed by the amount used and the impacts of man made chemicals, which were routinely and frequently sprayed on vines. His early adopting philosophy of organic certification paved a positive path for the integrity of the wines as well as leading others to follow suit.

Churton Estate's Natural State Pied de Cuve is made by second generation winemakers, Ben and Jack Weaver, who use grapes from the Loin Vineyard, which is family owned and farmed using biodynamic principles. This Sauvignon Blanc was whole bunch pressed into old oak puncheons and fermented with wild yeasts which were cultured from the vineyard. It was aged for a year on yeast lees and bottled without fining or filtration, so it is vegan friendly. A small addition of SO2 was added at bottling to retain freshness. 

Churton Estate founder and winemaker Sam Weaver cut his teeth on the classic wines of the world while working in fine wine retail in the United Kingdom. He and his wife Mandy Weaver then moved to New Zealand and set about creating one of this country's most focussed small wineries; a brand that does live up to the dream of creating 100% estate grown grapes, 100% certified organic production and 100% bottled on site, nearly all of the wines without fining or filtration. All the grapes are hand picked and natural yeasts ferment the vast majority of wines they make. These qualitative decisions impact every step of their winemaking in a positive fashion, providing exceptional quality grapes which in turn express themselves in outstanding wines.

The Natural State wines are the brainchild of second generation family winemakers, Ben and Jack Weaver.

Flinty, fleshy, full bodied and deliciously dry. Bull Paddock Sauvignon Blanc is one of Marlborough's top expressions of its most planted grape and an outstanding take on Sauvignon with complexity, depth and great length all providing superb drinking now - this wine works in place of a Chardonnay and will appeal to all white wine lovers thanks to its savoury flavour notes with just a mere hint of tropical fruit. This wine is great drinking now, excellent when paired with food and can also age well for up to four to five years. 

Fresh, fruit driven Sauvignon Blanc is dry with lively acidity, a light body and intense flavours including tropical passionfruit notes typical of many Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs and also incorporating herbaceous flavours. It's the winner of a huge number of awards including the following:

2020 Concours Mondial Du Sauvignon: Gold

2020 Sakura Japan Women’s Wine Awards: Double Gold

2020 Toast to The Coast: Double Gold

Michael Franz, US: 92 Points

Cameron Douglas, NZ - 90/100 Points

Joe Czerwinski for Robert Parker, US - 90/100 Points

Whitehaven Wines began life in 1994 as a romantic business for a couple of corporate escapees, Sue and Greg White, who had given up life in the rat race of Auckland for another kind of life aboard their yacht. When sailing around the country, they took shelter in the Marlborough Sounds from Pacific storms and fell in love with the region. An easy thing to do when harbouring in the spectacularly pristine waters of the Sounds. They decided to settle there on terra firma once more and try their hands at wine production, hiring a winemaker and beginning a business which has now been around for 26 years. Greg has sadly passed away now, leaving a legacy as well as his wife and daughter, Sam, to run the winery. Their winemaker is Peter Jackson.

?Meltwater is a new collection of small batch organic wines with texture and interest ? No formula here, just deliciously crisp and pure wines that express everything we love about Marlborough. The wines are named for the glacial meltwaters of the last ice age, which flowed from the high country of Marlborough, depositing sedimentary rock material as they criss-crossed the valleys below.? ?Mike & Anna Paterson, Corofin



Tasting Note: Picked ripe but still with a citrus core and good acidity. As with the 2021, plenty of pithy, waxy dry extract which is texturally very appealing. Plenty of interest and seductive on release.

Winemaking Notes: Hand harvested April 10th 2022. Natural ferment in older puncheons. Slow and steady primary fermentation over 7 months, stopping at 4gl RS; full malolactic fermentation on original lees. Racked, filtered and bottled March 2023. Biogro certified 6110. Only 65 cases made.

Smith & Sheth is a relatively new wine brand, which is made by extremely experienced wine hands. Viticulturist and Master of Wine Steve Smith sourced grapes for this wine from low yielding old vines averaging 25 years in age from the rocky, bony soils around the Renwick township in Marlborough. These were blended with biodynamically grown grapes from the elevated slopes of Sam and Mandy Weaver's Churton Vineyard. The result is a concentrated, refreshing and super intense Sauvignon with drive and backbone, coupled with the refreshing tang provided by bright acidity, which makes every sip linger. 

Commercial Description

Our Ballochdale Vineyard in Marlborough is soul food for everyone who visits. its isolation, elevation and breath taking views simply fill you up. Our beautifully structured Sauvignon captures its special character with every sip. Flavours reminiscent of limes and nettle flowers with hints of green melon all wrapped around a  delicious acidity and natural fruit ripeness.

Close your eyes and think of warm sunshine and snowy mountain peaks. This wine takes you there.