Greywacke Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2023/2025

Greywacke vineyard production was a project started by winemaker Kevin Judd in 2009. It has since became a benchmark of the region’s winemaking excellence.

For the Sauvignon Blanc, its fruit was sourced from several prime vineyard sites. This includes Marlborough’s Southern Valleys and the central Wairau Plains (specifically Woodbourne, Renwick and Rapaura). Soil types vary from the young alluvial soils of Rapaura and Renwick. These plots contain high proportions of New Zealand’s ubiquitous greywacke river stones. Others have the older and denser clay-loams of the Southern Valleys. The majority of the vineyards were trained using a two- or three-cane VSP (vertical shoot positioning) trellis. The system is balanced on the divided Scott Henry canopy management system.

For the 2025 vintage, the Sauvignon Blanc fruits were harvested largely by machine during cool (often cold) night-time conditions, the fruit was picked at high sugar levels over a 3-week period, commencing 24 March. Transported directly to our winery in the Omaka Valley, fruit was lightly pressed to yield a modest volume of high-quality juice. The juice was cold-settled and racked prior to fermentation, which was primarily carried out in stainless steel tanks with cultured yeast. All individual vineyard batches were left on lees until late May, when the blend was assembled. The wine was bottled in early August with alcohol 13.1%, pH 3.08 and acidity 6.8 g/l.

The finished wine expresses aromatic herbs with soft, yellow peach, crunchy pear and a squeeze of juicy lime, apricot sponge cake and custard tarts. It’s a sweet-scented array of ripe deliciousness. On the palate, flavours of honeydew melon and white nectarine mingle with savoury notes of crushed seashells and a hint of chalky minerality. A fruit-driven Marlborough style with generosity and weight, it
delivers a luscious sense of ripeness that finishes with a mouthwatering lemon-sherbet zing.