Kina Beach Sauvignon Blanc 2017

A pure clean nose of grapefruit, and lime and gooseberry. Initial entry on the palate bursts with intense flavour. Gooseberry dominates but with a great degree of care. The flavour treads softly around the mouth. A delicate balance with gentle acidity allows the fruit to shine front and centre creating a beautiful wine with a soft aromatic poise. The low 12.5% alcohol creates a residual sweetness that charms throughout.

The majority of vines sit on a gentle undulating slope with free draining sandy loam soils. Modest rainfall throughout the year along with a cleansing sea breeze from both the Moutere inlet and Tasman Bay generally provide an excellent growing environment. No irrigation along with a rigid leaf plucking, shoot tucking, trimming and bunch thinning regime – all done by hand – ensure ample ventilation and exposure to the sun.

The fruit was pressed lightly, and the juice cold settled to allow solids to separate. Fermentation in stainless steel tanks completed in around three weeks at 12-14˚C and was stopped when the balance between sweetness, acidity and alcohol was reached. The wine was left on lees for one month before being racked and left on light lees for a further five months to allow secondary components, aromatics and the mid-palate of the wine to develop. Aromatic enzyme was added slowly over a 4-6 week period to finish the wine and enhance the characters whereupon cold stabilization and filtering occurred one month prior to bottling.

Bottled in November 2017 and aged for 4 years to reach its optimal drinking window. Released to the wider public in December 2021. Perfect to drink now.