Wine Note

Sauvignon Blanc from our Gimblett Road vineyard was hand harvested, gently pressed and partially barrique fermented. This wine displays an intense aroma of passionfruit and citrus. Lees stirring and some malolactic fermentation has added a richness to the finish.

Fruit

Hawkes Bay 2002 Sauvignon Blanc

Alcohol Content

13.5%

Vinification

The grapes were hand picked and whole bunch pressed. Some of the juice was run off straight to barrels for a wild yeast ferment. The rest of the juice was settled and racked to tank for fermentation. The juice was inoculated with yeast and fermentation lasted 3-4 weeks. The barrels were left on gross yeast lees with weekly stirring. 36% of the blend was put through malo-lactic fermentation. 41% of the blend was fermented in new French oak barriques. The wine was left in barrels for 6 months. After maturation the wine was blended, fined and stabilized prior to bottling.

Bottling

This wine was bottled on the 4th of December 2002.

Sensory

Colour: Light straw with green hue and brilliant clarity. 
Aroma: Complex tropical/fruit salad aroma displaying subtle and delicate spicy oak characters. 
Palate: Flinty and dry. Needs time to develop in the bottle. Tight structure with tropical fruit flavours and complex nuances of yeast lees and cedar oak that linger on the finish.

Cellaring

2-4 years.