2014 Alana Estate, Sauvignon Blanc, Martinborough, New Zealand

2014 Alana Estate, Sauvignon Blanc, Martinborough, New Zealand

Product: 20148022826
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2014 Alana Estate, Sauvignon Blanc, Martinborough, New Zealand

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Description

Jim Jerram is the leading pioneer of the developing Waitaki Valley viticultural region. His Ostler label is based in the hamlet of Kurow (where Richie McCaw played his first rugby) and has developed a fine reputation for Pinot Noir and aromatic whites. The name comes from Jim’s great-grandfather, William Ostler, who came from Yorkshire to this area in the 1850s. The Waitaki climate is cooler than Central Otago, thanks to afternoon easterly breezes sucked in from the coast, however the ripening season is longer and – so far – with lower frost risks.

The newest vineyard site in the Ostler stable, Lakeside, is perhaps the most exciting yet for aromatic grapes such as Riesling. The flavours offer delicious lemon and lime notes, while a trace of residual sugar balances the Riesling grape’s natural acidity. At 10.5 percent alcohol this is a beautifully refreshing drink.

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About this WINE

Alana Estate

Alana Estate

Alana Estate continues to evolve since its founding in 1993. New CEO Cath Hopkin has assembled a team of: winemaker Chris Archer, ex-Roseworthy & former Pepper Tree & Morton Estate winemaker; viticulturalist James Pittard, at Alana since 1993; consultant viticulturalist Nick Hoskins.

The Estate's single 18.7ha Martinborough terrace vineyard sits on a mix of silty sand (quartz & feldspar), gravel and limestone deposits. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc are all grown and produced. Pinot Noir is the focus: fifty-six separate blocks have been identified, incorporating several clones such as Abel, 667, 777, 3309, 114, 10/5, UCD5. 'Le Coup' Pinot Noir is their flagship wine, made in tiny quantities as result of focusing in on the best six clones from the top silty/loam/loess terrace sites.

Alana Estate has sought to focus on the following core values: identification and separation of soil types, clones & rootstocks; wine styles determined by the terroir and capable of ageing; wines with high dry extract & a suave texture; parcel by parcel vinification & expression; consistent Martinborough terroir high quality & expression.

Yield reduction, better canopy management, increased soil biodiversity form part of the new strategy. 2006 also saw the completion of a new winery, featuring sorting tables and gravity fed vinification.

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Martinborough

Martinborough

Close to the southern tip of North Island, some top-class, aromatic Pinot Noir is being made in the sleepy town of Martinborough, with the best rivalling good Burgundy. Compared to the hustle and bustle of Marlborough, the pocket-sized Wairarapa district – with Martinborough at its head – comes across less as a wine-producing region, accounting as it does for three-point-five percent of the country's vines, and more like a cottage industry. Much of this is perhaps down to the compact size of its favoured old-Martinborough terrace with its gravely, sandy, alluvial soils, located an hour's drive east of the country's capital, Wellington.

Another factor is the nature of the winegrowers themselves, often holding down a professional career during the week, and tending their vines at the weekends; so more therapy than husbandry, reflected perhaps in the relatively high land values, making commercial viticulture a tricky proposition. Added to which, and despite being in a rain shadow, this south-eastern corner of North Island is constantly at the mercy of the icy south-easterlies spinning off the Antarctic, bringing frosts five or six times a year, from flowering through to harvest. Pinot Noir yields are therefore often at the 25-30 hl/ha mark.

Just as Cloudy Bay launched a hundred wineries in Marlborough, so it could be argued that Dry River Wines and Ata Rangi provided the spark that lit up Martinborough. While the region's history dates back to the first commercial vintage of 1893, Prohibition intervened, followed by Marlborough's debut, hence Dry River's inaugural vintage was only in 1979, with Clive Paton releasing Ata Rangi in 1985.

Much of the initial buzz surrounding the region came from the Abel or `Gumboot' clone of Pinot Noir whose origins apparently lie in a certain Romanée-Conti vineyard. During the 1960s or 1970s, a cutting was allegedly smuggled into New Zealand via a gumboot, discovered by the then customs officer Malcolm Abel who in turn propagated it on the quiet before releasing it to Ata Rangi. To this day, one sniff of a barrel of Abel Pinot Noir conjures up visions of Musigny – something evidently not lost on Nigel Greening, who planted most of his Cornish Point vineyard with it.

Though Pinot Noir put the region on the map and continues to turn heads in the hands of Dr Neil McCallum (Dry River), Clive Paton (Ata Rangi), and, more recently, Chris Archer of Alana Estate, economically the region is arguably better-suited to Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and even Gewürztraminer. Unlike Marlborough, or Burgundy for that matter, this region has to juggle several varieties to make ends meet – not an easy task. The regional style is dark plum and chocolate black fruit, with a savouriness akin to meat.

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Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc

An important white grape in Bordeaux and the Loire Valley that has now found fame in New Zealand and now Chile. It thrives on the gravelly soils of Bordeaux and is blended with Sémillon to produce fresh, dry, crisp  Bordeaux Blancs, as well as more prestigious Cru Classé White Graves.

It is also blended with Sémillon, though in lower proportions, to produce the great sweet wines of Sauternes. It performs well in the Loire Valley and particularly on the well-drained chalky soils found in Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, where it produces bone dry, highly aromatic, racy wines, with grassy and sometimes smoky, gunflint-like nuances.

In New Zealand, Cloudy Bay in the 1980s began producing stunning Sauvignon Blanc wines with extraordinarily intense nettly, gooseberry, and asparagus fruit, that set Marlborough firmly on the world wine map. Today many producers are rivalling Cloudy Bay in terms of quality and Sauvignon Blanc is now New Zealand`s trademark grape.

It is now grown very successfully in Chile producing wines that are almost halfway between the Loire and New Zealand in terms of fruit character. After several false starts, many South African producers are now producing very good quality, rounded fruit-driven Sauvignon Blancs.

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