TWR Sauvignon Blanc 2023

Reviews

Cameron Douglas MS: 94/100. A delicious expression of SB with a just satin touch on the palate before the acidity, fresh herbs and core fruits flavours kick-in. Grapefruit and crisp apple, fresh basil and sage, a refreshing wet-stone mineral seam all accentuated by the acid line and mouthfeel overall. There’s a tangerine quality to the fruit spectrum showcasing vineyard and perhaps a signature of the TWR style. Delicious, fresh, salivating and dry. A wine best enjoyed from 2024 through 2029.

Bob Campbell, MW (The Real Review): 94/100 & Top Rank & Top Value. 

James Suckling (JamesSuckling.com): 92/100. Aromas tropical punch, lime cordial and faint white flowers followed by tarragon and green bell peppers. Medium-bodied with brisk acidity. Expressive and aromatic yet balanced.

Tasting Note

Distinctive Awatere characters of elderflower, lemon, and white currant, coupled with lovely ripe passionfruit & tropical notes and hints of basil and lime from the Wairau. These follow through to the palate - which is fine and soft with loads of fleshy fruit balanced by a ripe, juicy acidity and lingering minerality. There is real fruit weight here and that is complimented by lovely texture from the time on lees and the barrel parcels - It is utterly delicious!

Aromas and flavours:

Additional information

Type: White wine

Grape varial: Sauvignon Blanc

Food match: seafood, particularly oysters or lightly seared scallops. Spanner crab, wild onion, macadamia, smoked daikon, tofu.

Vineyard: This 2023 Sauvignon Blanc is a blend from three specially selected vineyards in two different sub-regions of Marlborough. Two of the vineyards are in the Wairau valley – Flowerday family & Te Whare Rā and the third is in the upper Awatere Valley – Shamrock. The growing conditions in the Awatere are characterised by cooler temperatures and slower ripening, which is all important for flavour development and ripe acidity. The wines from this sub-region tend to be more restrained in their youth but have great texture, structure and longevity. The blocks in the Wairau experiences the warmer days, longer sunshine hours and a bigger diurnal range. These climatic differences result in wines which have lovely fleshiness and texture, and which are characterised by riper tropicals and stone-fruit with a lovely line of minerality.

Winemaking: The larger parcels of fruit for this wine were select machine picked and the home block portion was all hand-picked and hand-sorted. The free-run and soft pressings parcels were combined for fermentation. The majority of the parcels underwent slow, cool fermentation in stainless, with 11% of the blend fermented at warmer temps in older French oak demi-muids. All parcels spent time on fine lees, post ferment for texture. This wine has not been fined and is suitable for vegans and vegetarians and anyone else who loves authentic, hand-made wines.

Alcohol: 13.5% vol

Residual sugar: 2 g/l

Total Acidity: 7.0 g/l

Wine style: dry

Bottle size: 0.75l

Notice: contains sulphites

Cellaring potential: This 2023 Sauvignon Blanc is drinking well now but Te Whare Ra is consciously making a style of Sauvignon that will benefit from some bottle age, so it will also develop with careful cellaring for 3 to 5 years.

Closure: Screwcap

Produced and bottled by: TE WHARE RA WINES, 56 Anglesea Street, Renwick, Marlborough, New Zealand

Can't get enough of Sauvignon Blanc? Check out our New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc assortment.