Dry River Sauvignon Blanc

2006 Dry River Sauvignon Blanc

This is lemon-gold, almost rich in colour for such a young Sauvignon. The nose borders on pungent with nettles/herbs, citrus, light floral notes and a touch of melon. It has a fresh but full, rounded palate with classic mineral/herbs, citrus and white peach with a very persistent clean mineral aftertaste. This wine is delicious with salads and luncheons now, but don’t be fooled – it is also a wine for ther long haul. It is hard for me to say this, but it is regrettably our last Sauvignon. Of all the vines this has the shortest life expectancy in our type of climate. We first planted Sauvignon in 1979 and this block dates from about 1982. It will eventually be replaced with Pinot gris.

2005 Dry River Sauvignon Blanc

The colour veers more to pale lemon with hints of green, and the nose is lifted, floral almost sweet, showing white peach and Nashi pears with a slight nettley background. It has classic mineral tones on the palate, again with white peach, grapefruit and zest, showing a beautifully balanced crystalline purity. For me this is an excellent food wine either when it is young and vibrant or when it is older and more complex nearer maturity. My expectation is that it will age well for many years if required. A few older vintages we have tried recently are the ’84, ’87, ’89, ’93 and ’94, all are drinking well. The ’88 was looking more advanced.

2004 Dry River Sauvignon Blanc

This wine is light straw in colour and has a largely floral bouquet with hints of pine needles and fresh undergrowth. It has a long fresh and cleansing palate with pure, lively mineral characters, also showing flowers, white peach and a touch of lime. It has a silky texture in quite an elegant palate which is not lacking in substance. This wine will be fine currently as an accompaniment for food, but as with previous vintages we expect it to be long-lived and to show development over the years.

2003 Dry River Sauvignon Blanc

The colour is a pale straw, showing good condition. The nose delivers the smell of passionfruit flowers and crushed lemonwood leaves, Granny Smith apples and hints of lychees with a mineral edge. It has quite a full palate with some phenolic grip and flavours that tend to delicate and floral without sacrificing substance. The taste is of limes, Granny Smith apples and passionfruit with a mineral, wet-stone finish. This is another wine which will accompany food well now, but judging by previous vintages it can be expected to be long-lived.

2002 Dry River Sauvignon Blanc

The colour is a light lemon-gold, and the nose is lively, smelling of passionfruit, guava, lemon sorbet and fresh hay. The palate is also crisp and lively but with weight, texture and a lingering aftertaste. It tastes of Meyer lemons, white peach through subtle pears, and fresh hay with a mineral finish. These wines mellow and become more complex with age, and they can be very long-lived.

2001 Dry River Sauvignon Blanc

Our Sauvignons are cropped low by New Zealand standards – this one at 36hL/ha (ca2.1t/A) with complete fruit exposure to the light from early in the season to minimize herbaceous and vegetal flavours and provide a wine with attractive ageing qualities. Its colour is lemon-gold, and the nose shows ripe passionfruit, hints of pears and wet river stones. The palate is bone dry, but it has a slightly oily texture with powerful flavours of passionfruit, pears and white peach with a zesty citrus finish. Refreshing. These wines are normally long-lived.

2000 Dry River Sauvignon Blanc

The colour of the wine is a greenish lemon, and it has a nose which is quite aromatic, showing sweet tropical fruits, white-fleshed stonefruit, plus hints of white pepper and fresh-cut hay. The palate is viscous, almost weighty, with up-front flavours of green apples and stonefruit, maybe even kiwifruit, and underlying hints of the ripe tropical fruit seen on the bouquet, and all tempered by a zesty rather than overt acidity. It is a refined Sauvignon which may be drunk now or cellared: no hurry.

Longer-term cellaring may give rise to wine crystals (see General Notes).

1999 Dry River Sauvignon Blanc

Pale lemon with green lights. The nose is of zesty lemon, white peaches and an aroma which is reminiscent of passionfruit or possibly nettles. The palate is somewhat akin to Riesling in its clarity of expression. It is crisp, and has a good weight and a dominant flavour of citrus allied with subtle white tannins with the texture of crushed silk. It has the balance for a food wine and displays considerable length. Our Sauvignons can be excellent with food when drunk young, but acquire a different persona on ageing which is also worthwhile.

1998 Dry River Sauvignon Blanc

Our Sauvignon grapes ripened considerably earlier in the season than usual, probably because of the relatively small crop. In a hot year such as 1998 there is a danger that the fruit characters might lose their liveliness, so we picked part of this crop early – at about 20 brix to retain fresh, crisp flavours in the final wine. The remainder of the grapes were allowed to ripen further to contribute fullness and riper flavours in the final blend.

The final wine is light gold in colour with a ripe nose evoking flowers, dried grass and even spices, with Granny Smith apples. The palate is quite full but balanced, with typical nettle and crisp Granny Smith flavours. The wine shows good concentration, and though it is well suited as a food wine now, it will gain further interest if cellared over a number of years. If you have not tried already, our Sauvignons do have considerable longevity, and it is worth experimenting by cellaring them for some time to see whether you like this aged version.

1997 Dry River Sauvignon Blanc

This vintage was cropped low and picked with good flavours and in perfect condition at 23 brix. The colour is light gold, and the nose sweet and complex, showing passionfruit and lightly honeyed and dried straw characters, with hints of something I can only describe as ?mineral’. The palate is weighty but balanced – presently quite lively; the flavours are strong and well defined, tasting of apples through to passionfruit, with quite a silky texture and considerable persistence. A great deal of effort is put into the vineyard to create the appropriate flavours and style in our Sauvignon blanc for a food wine. It can be matched with seafood, salads, quiches or as an aperitif. It should be quite good drinking as a young wine within a few months, or as a developed style over many years.

1996 Dry River Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon blanc is one of the varieties most vulnerable to botrytis rot. Much effort with the canopies and with leaf plucking allowed us to harvest ripe fruit even under the difficult conditions of this season. The fruit was harvested in three lots at progressive ripeness and flavours (to promote complexity in the final wine), the final picking being at the end of April. The colour is lemon with hints of green and the bouquet is mostly floral and citrus with underlying threads of red capsicum. To me, the flavours are predominantly of citrus, mid-ripened nectarines and some of the fragrant character of ripe melons. The palate is noticeably rounded with good weight, a firm structure, and a power derived from the relatively high alcohol (approx.13.5%). This is an excellent food wine, and it should be good drinking as a young wine within a few months, or as a developed style over many years.

1995 Dry River Sauvignon Blanc

Careful viticulture yielded us a crop of ripe Sauvignon blanc in excellent condition, in what was considered by some to be a ‘difficult’ year for this variety. The colour is a pale lemon-straw, and the bouquet is of stone fruit with a walnutty character and a soft floral background. The palate is notable for its full, focused yet complex flavours closest to crisp, ripe nectarines and again with walnuts and creamy characters in the background. An unusually low pH (2.8) contributes to the focused flavours of this wine and is expected to bestow it with a long life. Expect the wine to soften and open out further with time ? these wines may be drunk young for their freshness or cellared for the softer, complex characters they develop.

1994 Dry River Sauvignon Blanc

This was harvested from the home vineyard, quite late in the season, when the grapes had been gaining little in sugar but continuing to progress in flavour. The flavours are ripe, appearing almost sweet, and the wine shows good weight in the mid to back palate without detracting from its elegance. It has quite a strong lemony colour for a young wine and a soft-textured palate. I would describe the flavours as limes with hints of lychees and I find it attractive for drinking now, although a gentle underlay of ‘sappy’ fruit tannins and the pure ripe flavours make this a Sauvignon which should age gracefully.

The structure and flavours of this wine also make it well suited to accompany food – try it with vegetable or fish soup as well as with more conventional fish, quiche and cheese.