Tekau Sauvignon Blanc 2017

Our 2017 Tekau has wonderful complexity with the nose showing intense lemon, tropical fruits along with more subtle notes of red capsicum, passionfruit and smoky oak. The palate is rich and round with lovely weight while it has enough acidity to retain an appealing freshness and provide overall balance.

The small Blind River vineyard is in Marlborough’s Awatere Valley in the north-east of New Zealand’s South Island. It occupies a sheltered spot at the foot of gentle, rolling hills overlooking the picturesque valley floor. Mount Tapuaenuku lies to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east. Planted with Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, the soils are deep, stony clay with seams of free-draining, clay-mixed gravels on river terraces. The Sauvignon Blanc for this wine was two-cane VSP pruned and cropped at moderate levels. The 2017 season allowed us to pick with perfect, ripe flavours and in lovely condition.

Once picked the grapes were gently pressed and the juice briefly settled before fermenting in predominantly old French barriques (just 5% new). The barrels were inoculated from a vineyard wild yeast. This was produced by crushing some bunches of grapes in a small drum and leaving it in the vineyard for a few days until fermentation starts naturally. Once underway, we brought it into the winery and used it to inoculate the barrels, ensuring we are only fermenting this wine with yeast from the Blind River vineyard.