“A hand-crafted and distinctively delicious wine, it’s great value.” - Julia Harding MW for JancisRobinson.com

“Shaped like a super-elite Pouilly-Fumé… This was the finest and most complex Sauvignon Blanc of all 48 on show.” - Matthew Jukes

If you are looking for a stylish white wine to go with every kind of cuisine from Japanese to Indian to classic French or English seafood, then this is a brilliant option. It’s not what most people would expect from a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc as it is made more like a white Burgundy: hand-picked and fermented with, ambient yeasts in neutral French oak. There are none of those stereotypical Marlborough aromas of passion fruit and gooseberry, it’s much more intricate and complex, flirting with matchstick reduction, but no more than a cheeky wink, as well as clementine, grapefruit (I like Julia Harding’s “smoky grapefruit”), flint and lime pickle, showing a leesy texture that gives the wine so much presence in the mouth. I can imagine enjoying it with a roast tronçon of turbot in hollandaise sauce. I can only imagine it, because I can’t afford turbot. Or hollandaise sauce. 13% alc. Drink now-2028.

Press review:

Jancis Robinson MW: “Smoky grapefruit aroma, flinty. On first approach, almost toasty in its struck-match notes of reduction, but these aromas become less intense with air. Creamy, brightly fresh, not focused on fruit but has fruit to support the style choices. Don't buy this if you want classic, intensely aromatic Sauvignon Blanc; it's complex, stylised and delicious. There's no lack of fruit – more stone fruit than green fruits – as well as fine touches of fennel and lanolin (for once, the tasting notes on the back label are accurate and not over-optimistic). The oak shows mostly in the texture, and the fruit and oak together give a delicious clementine flavour, with a light pith-like texture on the finish. Long, complex and food friendly. Good Value. Drink now-2033.” 17 points

Julia Harding MW: “Gorgeous fumy/smoky reduction aroma. So creamy in texture and rounded by the oak and lees. Plenty of fruit but it's more citrus and peach with a touch of lanolin and, as Ben Gover points out on the back label, fennel than anything grassy and green. The oak shows in the rounded texture and the fruit and oak together give a delicious clementine flavour, with a light pith-like texture on the finish. Long, complex and food friendly. VGV (JH) 13%. Drink 2024 – 2033.” 17.5 points

Matthew Jukes: “This was the finest and most complex Sauvignon Blanc of all 48 on show. While it is shaped like a super-elite Pouilly-Fumé, telltale Marlborough details focus the mind on the sublime purity of fruit and the skill required to add infinitesimal fractals of detail without applying brakes to the experience. With a majestic ‘high-gold score’ in my notes, this wine instantaneously catapulted itself to the top echelons of my Sauvignon Blanc experiences over the last twelve months."

Decanter (previous vintage): “Slight reduction casts a smoky, sexy spell on the nose but with more air, a sense of sundried hay and ripe yellow plum shines through, all wrapped into funky smokiness. The palate is fluid, with the acidity supported by a creamy, textural undercarriage, lovely zestiness and great depth. Very fresh, beautifully ripe and totally rounded, yet bright and absolutely zesty. This is complex now but will get even better with age. Not just ripe but golden grapes were hand-picked, then whole-bunch-pressed straight into used French barriques for spontaneous ferment. A wine that gets under your skin.” 95 points

Customer comment:

“Yum. This is a proper wine.” - Mr K.D.