Churton Sauvignon Blanc 2023

Our 2023 Sauvignon Blanc is perfumed with almond blossom, and ripe gooseberry on the nose. The palate is dry, plush in texture, and mineral with great concentration of green gage plums and grapefruit, with a chalky pithiness finishing with crisp mineral mouthwatering acidity. From the HILLS not the Valley

Our distinctive hillside vineyard above the Waihopai Valley was planted in 2000 with the European approach of close vine spacing and high density (approx. 5,000/ha). We manage the certified organic vineyard according to the principles of biodynamics. In 2019 we had a mild spring with good rainfall allowing early flowering in Sauvignon Blanc, starting around 10th December. This produced well-formed bunches with even fruit set. We moved into a very dry, hot summer with no significant rainfall until early March. Our vines faired exceptionally well during the drought; their deep roots and our healthy soils with good water retaining capacity giving them resilience. The March rain was very timely and served to refresh the vines well and give them a final push through to harvest. Sauvignon Harvest began on 31st March and everything was picked within 10 days. The fruit was well balanced at 22-23 Brix with fine acidity and slightly higher pH than normal.

All our fruit is hand harvested, every year. This was particularly pleasurable in 2019 with every bunch clean and golden in colour. Precision in our vineyard and winery work is essential, therefore, we pick each block separately, and hand sort everything at the winery to eliminate anything we didn’t like the look of! Our fruit was whole bunch pressed, then settled for 12 hours prior to racking to a combination of tank and barrel (50/50). Fermentation was long and slow and the various blocks were fermented separately and aged on lees for nine months prior to racking and blending. We bottled February 2020.