Our Sauvignon Blanc pushes the boundaries of the typical New Zealand flavour profile. By highlighting floral aromatics and tropical flavours such as guava and melon-like fruit, we tone down the grassiness and bring a creamy mid-palate all the way through to a fresh and bright crispness on the finish. We have set a new precedent for New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.
Pair Mt. Beautiful Sauvignon Blanc with shellfish, chicken dishes and especially a good attitude.
2016 was a good vintage but not without its challenges. The season started off extremely warm and dry which led to excellent flowering and exceptional fruit set. This was followed by some much needed rain in early January which helped increase the bunch size. A key objective of the season was to keep yields low, as most vines set too much fruit. To accomplish this we targeted vineyard blocks where we removed canes and green harvested to manage the fruitfulness. The summer season was good leading to a very good autumn which had some early rain which refreshed the vines. During harvest, we picked the very best fruit; clean, ripe and disease free. The wine was fermented with a variety of neutral and aromatic yeasts. A small portion was fermented in 300L new and used barrels. Each separate component was aged on lees for nine months prior to blending and bottling.
The majority of the Sauvignon Blanc is planted on the most northern part of the vineyard which is cooler and more suited to this variety. All of our Sauvignon Blanc is hand-thinned and machine harvested before it is pressed into juice on site.
The planted clones are a mix of University of California Davis (UCD) 1 and Mass selection (MS) on a mix of 101-14, 3309 and Schwarzmann rootstock, with a quarter of the vines Bordeaux clones BDX 316 and BDX 317, on Riparia Gloire rootstock. The Bordeaux clones tend to give a definite lift to Sauvignon Blanc flavours, with less cut grass and more tropical flavours providing a more artisan style, balanced, elegant wine which complements a range of foods.
Sauvignon Blanc Vineyard Stats:
Planted 2004-2006
9 blocks, 38 ha (93.9 ac)
862 rows, 101,497 vines
Spacing: @2.4 x 1.5 m
Yield: 8 T/ha (3.23 T/ac)
Alcohol 14.1%
TA 6.5 g/L
RS 2 g/L
pH 3.23
Bottled: January 2017
Production: 12,000 cases
90 Points, Wine Enthusiast, Christina Pickard
17.5 / 20, 4 Stars, Raymond Chan Wine Reviews
95 Points, Double Gold, San Francisco Int'l Wine Competition
91 Points, The Tasting Panel
91 Points, Planet Grape Wine Review, Catherine Fallis
Silver, New World Wine Competition
A-, Drinkhacker, Chritopher Null
"Top 10 Wines of Summer," Gayot, Dan Dunn
Off-Licence:
Name of the licence holder: Dionysus Ventures Limited
Licence number: 57/OFF/411/2023
Licence expiry date: 27 February 2025
Our Off Licence
