by Andrew Chalk
Appearance: Clear with a light green tinge;
Nose: Grassy, lemon, white peach, ripe apple;
Palate: Medium plus acid, citrus fruit, fruit-driven finish;
Summary: This vibrant and subtly nuanced wine warrants pairing with oysters, fleshy white fish, poultry, Thai and Indian food. Like most New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs it will not benefit from or require ageing. It should be considered to be in the classic New Zealand style. I.e. fruit forward, above average to high acidity, expressing citrus and peach notes in the nose and pairing well with food, especially Asian food. It is a flavor profile that New Zealand has made uniquely its own.
Greywacke, owned by Kevin and Kimberly Judd, is one of the top-tier New Zealand wineries. Winemaker Kevin produces vintage after vintage of precise, refined Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir.
The vineyards for this wine are located in Marlborough’s Southern Valleys, the central Wairau Plains, and a river terrace site in the upper Awatere Valley. Soil types include alluvial soils, including New Zealand’s ubiquitous greywacke river stones (a type of sandstone), and clay loams in the Southern Valleys. I could not find any information on vine densities but trellising was mainly divided Scott Henry with the remainder using two or three cane vertical shoot positioning (VSP).
The grapes were mechanically harvested at night. At the winery they were lightly pressed and then cold-settled. Fermentation was primarily using cultured yeast with the remainder allowed to undergo spontaneous indigenous yeast fermentation in old oak barrels. Individual vineyard batches were left on the lees for approximately three months.
The wine is widely available and should be considered good value.
Sample.
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