Vintus

Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough

When Matt Thomson was researching the Delta farm site for the planting of Pinot Noir in 2001-2002, his wife Sheen was selling her house and searching for the ideal Sauvignon Blanc vineyard site. Through his work with other Sauvignon Blanc prodcuers, Matt had found that the area around Dillon’s Point produced intensely-flavored Sauvignon Blanc. Together they found a 25 acre site and planted it exclusively to Sauvignon Blanc.

This Dillon’s Point region has slightly cooler nights in summer, even soils with high levels of available minerals, and incredible drainage due to the sand lying beneath the soil. The vineyard is planted to a North-South orientation with specific care to allow full root development.

The 2007 vintage started early due to a warm February and relatively light cropin glevels that resulted from the very cool flowering weather during late November/early December. Following a cool April, the vintage ended up being one of the of the longest in recent memory. The two clones planted in the vineyard were harvested separately as the BDX317 was ripe a few days earlier than the Sancerre derived CI1. The grapes destemmed and pressed to minimize skin contact, and fermented for 3 weeks. The wine was racked, stabilized, filtered and bottled without fining.

The 2007 Delta Sauvignon Blanc has classic Marlborough pungency and varietal definition. There are aromas of white and blackcurrants and plenty of passion fruit. The palate is full, and finishes with fresh acidity and currant and mineral characters that linger on and on. While a powerful wine, it displays a true elegance.