Churton Best End Sauvignon Blanc 2018 2018

Our Best End Sauvignon Blanc has lifted aromatics of lemon zest, fennel flowers and lemon balm underlined by a savoury ground stone character. On the palate, the wine is dry and linear with creamy fresh stone fruit, white nectarine and lemon oil. A fine line of silvery acidity runs through the long finish.

Our distinctive hillside vineyard above the Waihopai Valley was planted in 2000 with a European approach, close vine spacing and high density (approx. 5,000/ha). We manage the vineyard according to principles of biodynamics and organics. Best End is a 1.26 hectare block that consistently produces our most concentrated, intensely flavoured Sauvignon Blanc fruit. At approximately 185m above sea level, Best End was planted onto a north facing slope of eroded loess on a ridge exposed to the prevailing westerly winds. These challenging conditions produce vines that crop small bunches resulting in low yields of small golden berries. The 2018 growing season was warm and wet, leading to a challenging harvest that required sorting in the vineyard and then again in the winery. The yield was minuscule at 4.8/ ha (31hl/ha) and resulted in a hand harvest on 26 March, a full two weeks earlier than 2017. Fruit was nicely mature and measured 22.1 Brix, 9.4 TA and pH of 3.1.

After hand sorting in the winery, our Best End Sauvignon Blanc was whole bunch pressed, settled for 12 hours and racked to French oak puncheons (500 litre barrels), 20% new. After a slow ferment, the Best End Sauvignon Blanc was aged on yeast lees for 11 months prior to racking to tank. The wine rested for three months before bottling in June 2019. Our 2018 Best End was bottled without sterile filtration and it saw no fining, cold or protein stabilisation. This minimal intervention means our wine could throw a sediment which is perfectly natural.