2023 Greywacke Wild Sauvignon Blanc
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Tasting notes
The 2023 Wild Sauvignon leads with a layered nose of crushed nuts, pineapple husk, licorice and white chocolate. On the palate, the wine is creamy and spicy, with lashings of concentrated fruit flavor and length throughout the finish. This wine routinely cellars with exceptional grace, and this vintage appears to be no different. The 2023 growing season was cool and wet, although the presence of the mountain range, which effectively divides the region in half, had a positive impact on the Awatere Valley, to the east of the main Wairau. While the 2023 season will be forever etched onto the hearts of the producers in Hawkes Bay (and the North Island in general) as the year of Cyclone Gabrielle, the South Island fared much better, and the wines in general have been lovely, detailed things, as this is. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.
Critic scores
Average Score
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
Fermentation was spontaneous and carried out in new and used French oak barriques over an extended period with occasional lees-stirring. Around two-thirds of the wine underwent malolactic conversion. Vibrant, immediately complex aroma that is clearly NZ Sauvignon Blanc but so much more: blackcurrant bud, mealy/creamy and vibrant green fruits. Deep, chewy, rich. Dense but not heavy and just lightly smoky/flinty. Immense depth and length. (JH)
Savoury, smokey and saline, the 2023 Wild Sauvignon is taut and tense, almost un-Marlborough-like, but over the course of 24 hours it reveals passion fruit and elderflower notes. If you haven't got that sort of time on your hands, pull out the decanter. The wine's sophistication comes not from its flavours but its shape and athletic acid profile. The texture intrigues with its focus and push-and-pull tension. The lip-smacking, medium-long finish is drawn out with smokey and floral talc as well as classic passion fruit and elderflower. Young but eminently drinkable, this has the concentration and structure to go on for a decade or more. Another success story for this bottling.
Full screwcapped bottle 1,246 g. Fruit from various sites in the Southern Valleys and the Central Wairau near Woodbourne. Mainly older, dense clay soils, with varying proportions of gravel. Some vineyards harvested by machine and some by hand. Pressed and racked to French oak barriques (only a small proportion new). Spontaneous fermentation, which eventually finished after 6 months. About 2/3 went through malo. Then 6 months on lees in tank. TA 6.2 g/l, pH 3.2. This is such a different beast from stereotypical Marlborouough Sauvgnon: a gamut of aromas from grassy to creamy via lime and ginger-like spice. Complex and inviting. The fragance is complemented by the wine’s presence in the mouth: weighted, creamy yet fresh, almost a little savoury, which is perhaps the oak. Lively fruit balanced by richness, depth and length. The time on the lees shows in a roundness and richness despite the high acidity. A big yet elegant wine that needs to be sipped and savoured. Having tasted older vintages, I am confident this will age well. (JH)