TWR / Te Whare Ra Sauvignon Blanc 2022

Description

Te Whare Ra Sauvignon Blanc 2022 is pure TWR – that is to say it is produced by the amazing Te Whare Ra Winery, a small, family-run vineyard and winery. The fruit for this Sauvignon Blanc comes from a mix of the cooler Awatere Valley and from TWR’s warmer Renwick vineyards which are certified organic. Though the Awatere  vineyards are not certified organic, they are sustainably certified and are cared for according to organic principles and to TWR’s own environmentally friendly and sustainable principles.

I agree with Anna Flowerday’s comment to me that Te Whare Ra Sauvignon Blanc 2022 is “a Sauvignon Blanc for people who think they don’t like Sauvignon Blanc”. It’s not the blowsy tropical fruit, Cloudy Bay style but a much fresher, more subtle style – very citrussy with lemon and lime on the nose and palate and notes of elderflower and gooseberry and just a hint of something more tropical in the background. Although the wine is marked as oaked, large neutral oak barrels are used for part on the blend, the rest is fermented in stainless steel – the barrels are used more for texture than for taste. Read more about this in my oaked vs. unoaked wines blogpost. The lemon and lime flavours on the palate are round rather than sharp which make this a very smooth wine with just the right amount of acidity to make this a very balanced and pretty sophisticated wine.

For another sophisticated Marlborough Sauvignon, try Auntsfield Estate Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc.