Flinty, dry and distinctively herbaceous with beautifully balanced tropical notes. This lovely lively wine puts Martinborough's best foot forward in this refreshingly succulent Sauvignon Blanc from Craggy Range, a family owned company based in Hawke's Bay which also now owns a significant proportion of vineyard land in Martinborough, all of it in the beautiful Te Muna Valley. 

This top notch Martinborough Sauvignon Blanc tastes of flinty freshness with notes of tropical fruit. It is named Te Muna on the label, in homage to its site, and is made from grapes grown on the lower terrace of the winery's substantial vineyard holdings at Te Muna Road. New vines are now in the ground further along the road on higher terraces and will come onstream for use in Sauvignon Blanc produced by this winery in future.

TASTING NOTE 

Not one bound by convention, The Marlborist Grande Sauvignon is a bold departure from the classic Marlborough style. Fermented entirely with naturally occurring yeast in a mixture of old French oak barrels and puncheons, it is an alternative style of sauvignon blanc with an alluring array of grilled peach, candied pineapple and brioche with hints of elderflower and almond. This is a moreish wine with a rich, creamy palate underpinned by a long, citrus finish. 

VITICULTURE 

Fruit was sourced three exceptional sites within the Southern Valleys and Renwick. Largely grown on Loess clay soils and river terraces where young, alluvial soils overlay deep deposits of greywacke stone, the combination of free-draining soils and naturally low yields allowed the vines to ripen small, golden bunches of intensely flavoured fruit. 

WINEMAKING 

A combination of machine and hand-picked fruit was harvested over a week-long period beginning late March. The grapes were transported directly to the winery where they were gently pressed and cold settled for three days. The juice was racked to a mixture of old French oak barrels and puncheons and left to spontaneously ferment by indigenous, ‘wild’ yeast, a process that took several months to complete. Occasional lees stirring and partial malolactic fermentation occurred over a 15 month period of maturation in French oak before the blend was assembled and settled prior to bottling in July.

Founder Dave Clouston and winemaker Sanna Stander are the driving force behind Black Cottage producing wines with local fruit from both Marlborough and Central Otago. This vibrant Sauvignon is full of fresh apricot, cucumber, gooseberry and tomato leaf on the nose. The lively palate is packed full of crunchy green apple, stone fruit and white pepper flavours with a delicious line of salinity and a refreshingly dry finish.

Dog Point Vineyards has the largest amount of certified organic vineyard land in New Zealand, thanks to its visionary founders, Ivan Sutherland and James Healy, who grow grapes for themselves and sell to a number of other winemakers in this country. 

The Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc is one of Marlborough's best, thanks to high quality grapes, post ferment lees aging and the result is a dry, medium bodied white from one of the world's biggest Sauvignon regions. This is an iconic wine from an exceptionally dedicated winemaking team.

Section 94 is one of New Zealand great white wines, made from a small portion of vineyard land that was named Section 94 on the country's original lands and survey map. It's the brainchild of the highly experienced viticulturist-winemaking duo, Ivan Sutherland (one time Olympic medal winning rower) and James Healy, the grapes are 100% barrel fermented in new French oak followed by aging in oak. Complex, great and long lived maverick wine.

Layers of depth with nutty aromas and full bodied with dry flavours. Drinks well on release and can also age, as this example shows. It is 100% Sauvignon Blanc but is not labelled with the varietal as Sutherland and Healy want to highlight what's possible from the land first and foremost.

Greystone is one of North Canterbury's wine stars situated on the slopes of limestone rich hills in Omihi. All of the grapes that go into Greystone wines are 100% certified organic with BioGro NZ and all are estate grown. No additional fruit is purchased to supplement production, which is one of many incremental steps that go into Greystone's high quality wines. 

This Sauvignon Blanc was 100% barrel fermented in old oak with wild yeasts and is made from fully certified organic grapes with BioGro NZ certification. Like all Greystone wines, it is made entirely from estate grown fruit with nothing bought in to supplement production. This is one of many incremental steps at Greystone that consistently ensures high quality. Partial malolactic fermentation provides creamy flavour notes to this wine, which are kept in check with the balance of bright acidity and a light spicy taste which further adds complexity.

Certified organic with BioGro NZ.

About Greystone

The Greystone wine story began in 2000 when the Thomas Family bought an old sheep farm on the Omihi hills in the Waipara Valley, North Canterbury. The rolling limestone hills lured this family in and their goal was a single minded one: to make great wines from the limestone rich soils here. Fast forward 20 years and Greystone is one of the great (and, some might say, yet to be fully discovered) wineries in this outstanding wine region. Not least due to the work of winemaker Dom Maxwell and general manager Nick Gill, who began working together in 2005 and has grown along with the brand and quality.

Iconic Martinborough Sauvignon Blanc with vibrant fresh acidity, balanced by ripe notes of tropical and citrus zest. This wine contains 3.3 grams of residual sugar which adds textural appeal and retains a dry fresh taste. Dry wines contain less than 5 grams per litre.

Palliser Estate's Sauvignon Blanc has a long track record of being one of New Zealand's best. A wine that balances appealing ripe tropical fruit flavours with zesty notes of citrus, green herbs and ripeness that provides great structure to this wine.

All the grapes in Ata Rangi Sauvignon Blanc are hand picked and sorted into portions, many of which go through whole bunch fermentation on skins in large oak barrels which provides smooth, dry flavours and textures. The remaining portions are fermented in stainless steel to retain fruit freshness and crisp characters, which make for a vibrant and complex expression of Sauvignon Blanc from the Wairarapa. 

This is an exceptional wine which shines a new light on New Zealand's well worn Sauvignon theme. Try it!

The name Ata Rangi is Maori for dawn sky and was chosen to portray the new beginning that the start of this winery represented for founder Clive Paton in the late 1970s.

This Sauvignon Blanc is all about precision and feel. Bright notes of green apple and fennel glide over a chalk-dusted, subtly creamy core.

A firm mineral seam underpins the wine, while layers of grapefruit zest and savoury tomato leaf build in complexity. It tapers to a dry, grainy finish with an almost tactile grip.

A textural style Sauvignon that is layered and complex, with a racy mineral backbone, thanks to the alluvial gravels of the Martinborough terrace and the unique growing conditions of Martinborough.

W I N E M A K E R S   N O T E 

From the exceptional 2024 vintage this is our first release of Sauvignon Blanc under the Escarpment label. Fermentation was conducted in a range of stainless-steel tanks, along with 20% in French Oak puncheons, 2% of the blend in new oak and a small portion fermented on skins. A mix of indigenous and inoculated yeast were used. Aged for 6 months before bottling.  This is a Sauvignon that showcases sophistication and texture, along with a limey/mineral backbone that gives great length and purity, and a moreish finish that will have you reaching for another glass.

T A S T I N G 

Gooseberry, nettle and guava are accompanied by lifted white floral notes, with the fruit sitting in the tropical spectrum. The palate is hinged together by textural elements that are balanced by restrained, but intense, fruit weight. There is a lovely seam of limey acidity that brings drive and offers a long lingering finish to the wine. It showcases the minerality and purity we get in white wines grown on the alluvial gravels.

Flinty, fresh and fabulously zesty in flavour, Greg Sauvignon Blanc is 100% Awatere Valley fruit and is a medium bodied, intensely fresh expression of Marlborough's most planted white grape variety, with herbaceous, tomato leaf and blackcurrant flavours.  

We think it's a winner and we're not alone - this wine is the winner of a Gold Medal at the Sakura Awards in Japan in 2020, which is why we think it represents great value for money. And that's not all. 

Awards for this wine

2020 Concours Mondial Du Sauvignon: Revelation Trophy

2020 Royal Easter Show Wine Awards: Champion Export Wine Trophy

2020 Sakura Japan Women’s Wine Awards: Gold

2019 Top 100 new release wines, Gourmet Traveller Wine - 5 Stars Michael Cooper, NZ - 4.5 Stars

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

Bob Campbell, NZ - Gold Ribbon: 5 Stars (Third vintage in a row)

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.