Viticulture

Marlborough experienced a relatively mild winter in the 2007 vintage followed by a variable spring. The unique terroir of the ’ Golden Mile’ in Rapaura, where the Staete Landt vineyard is situated provided us with a timely and consistent budburst with good healthy growth through to flowering. The mild and variable weather pattern continued through the flowering period resulting in a modest and well-balanced crop. The ensuing summer months remained unseasonably mild and a long gentle ripening period presented us with ripe opulent fruit.
The Sauvignon Blanc in the Staete Landt vineyard is planted in six separate parcels each providing its own unique expression. These parcels were picked separately giving an array of different flavours and structure resulting in a wine with great complexity and finesse. The first picks with their hallmark Marlborough herbaceousness and crisp acidity combine elegantly with the concentrated rich tropical fruit of the latter picks.

Harvest Dates: 24 March – 11 April 2007
Brix: 22.5 – 24.6

Winemaking

Each parcel harvest was managed slightly differently in the winery. The majority of the parcels were machine harvested and fermented using neutral yeast strains so that
the fruit flavours and aromas were emphasized. Two other portions were hand picked and whole-bunch-pressed to retain delicacy and elegance. One of these hand picked portions along with half of the machine picked portions were aged on yeast lees for 2 to 5 months. During this time we allowed these components to develop a subtle but complex creaminess. The second hand picked portion (about 20% of the wine) was fermented in 6 to 10 year old French barriques with a mixture of cultured and indigenous yeast strains. This resulted in more complexity to the wine and minimal oak flavour due to the age of the barrels.

Wine Analysis

Alcohol: 13.5%; Acidity: 7.0 g/l; pH: 3.12; Sugar: <2.0 g/l

Tasting Note

A complex and intensely aromatic Sauvignon Blanc. This wine is perfumed with aromas of tropical fruit such as mango’s, papaya and passion fruit. This sauvignon blanc is full bodied, the pungency of the tropical fruit is dominant, backed by characters of fresh cut grass, red capsicum and an elegant mineral finish. A complex style sauvignon blanc with a crisp ripe attractive acidity.
This is a wine for drinking whilst young but has the substance and concentration to develop well over two to five years once the primary fruit aromas have subsided.