Whitehaven Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2021

Colour / Appearance: Pale lemon.

Aroma / Bouquet: Classical Marlborough with aromas of grapefruit, lime, blackcurrant and tropical notes underscored with complexing hints of jalapeno and tomato leaf.

Palate: Pure and concentrated with flavours of white peach, boxwood, citrus and wet river stone. The palate is concentrated yet elegant with flavour density and a lingering, textured finish.

We are proud to source the fruit for this wine exclusively from Marlborough.

Climate: 2021 will be remembered as a season of two halves. The early part of the growing season was marked by two severe frost burn events which affected much of the region to varying degrees. This was followed by variable cool and wet weather through flowering, resulting in fewer berries setting per bunch, further reducing crops after the frost damage. Post-Christmas however, we could not have asked for a better season. The weather remained warm, but not hot, and we had a beautiful diurnal shift leading into harvest, retaining freshness and energy in the fruit and providing the perfect conditions for flavour development. With the light crops, harvest was underway earlier than usual and it was only in the final days of the harvest that we encountered some wet weather events that the winery was easily able to work around.

A mix of company-owned or managed vineyards, and contract grower vineyards, are pruned to between two and four 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. Minimal crop thinning was required in 2021 due to naturally low crops.

Winemaking: The fruit was machine harvested, often overnight, 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. Wines sat on light yeast lees in tank for up to 2 months prior to blending in June 2021. The wine has been heat and cold stabilised, and sterile filtered, prior to bottling.