Dawn Chorus Sauvignon Blanc

From the Winemaker:

New Zealand is one of the first places in the world to greet the morning sun. This fresh start is accompanied by a dawn chorus of melodic birdsong echoing from tree to tree. This sound is distinctly of its place and in forest where birdlife is flourishing this early morning wake up call can be almost deafening.

Dancing lime and lemon aromas on the nose, classic grapefruit, minerality, passionfruit, lemongrass and gold melon flavours. A bright acidity, rich palate with minerality and a hint of crunch make this a mouth filling and complex. It’s a lively and ultimately drinkable Sauvignon Blanc from the East Coast of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Vineyards:

The organic vineyard is found 20 miles from the sea and nestled at the bottom of uplifted limestone hills. This block is influenced by the river that used to flood across the valley floor 45,000 years ago, and even earlier and deeper than that, as the entire area was a salt lake formed by seawater being trapped as Aotearoa was lifted out of the sea. The sea water is long gone, but as a result the soils are typically shallow river silts over greywacke stone and deep, slightly saline sub-soils. These soils, combined with a classically cool climate and low rainfall, produce grapes with moderate sugars, bright acidity and beautifully complex wines.

Winemaking:

Minimal intervention, maximum intention captures the essence of how we’re making these wines. A cool growing season with lots of work needed in the vineyards to keep canopy growth under control and the fruit healthy. Harvesting in the cool morning...a little after the dawn chorus...while there’s still dew on the ground helps keep bright acidity, fresh aromatics and pure fruit flavours. At the winery, natural ferments and a long period on yeast lees create complexity, texture and balance with higher than normal natural acidity in the wine. A single pass filtration on the way to bottling makes sure all the goodness is locked in.