Auntsfield Estate Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2023

The original cellars & vineyards of David Hern, Marlborough's & Auntsfield's founding winemaker, are the same estate that the modern Auntsfield is on today. The current varietals planted have a shared ancestry with the original vineyards, and the Cowley family makes it a priority to act as guardians of this history.

The Southern Valleys is a sub region within Marlborough where the climate is cooler and drier. With its mix of high mineral Greywacke rock and old low fertility Loess clay soils, the Southern Valleys is regarded for its riper styles of wine with more structure, texture and minerality.

The Auntsfield vineyard covers 65 hectares and is planted in Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir. Unlike many Marlborough vineyards, Pinot Noir is Auntsfield’s most planted variety, and is particularly suited to the old clay hillsides of Auntsfield.

Grape Varietals & Region: Auntsfield's Single Vineyard wines are made from grapes grown at Auntsfield Estate. Each wine shows the distinctive characteristics of ripeness, texture and minerality – qualities unique to the ancient Greywacke rock and Loess clay soils of the vineyard. This is a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc but with extra complexity and minerality than most others.

Taste Profile: Pale straw colour. Bursts out of the bottle with intense fruit aromas of passionfruit, gooseberry and canteloupe melon with hints of lime and white peach. Notes of dried herbs, lemongrass, mandarin and blackcurrant add pungency and intensity to the aromatics. Powerful, tight and elegant. Concentrated with a generous weighted mouthfeel. Balanced by an underlying minerality and tight structure for lively tension and textural balance.

Winemaking Process: A portion of the fruit underwent cool fermentation with cultured yeast in stainless steel tanks. Another portion was subjected to traditional winemaking practices: handpicked, whole bunch pressed and fermented in seasoned oak barrels.