ASTROLABE AWATERE VALLEY SAUVIGNON BLANC 2023

A different expression to the well known "Province" Sauvignon Blanc, the Awatere Sauvignon focuses on Marlborough's more southern Awatere Valley, and the one that Bob Campbell MW has consistently scored in the mid-nineties for many years now. It's absolutely classical in Awatere character with grassy, green capsicum and tomato leaf flavours all wrapped up in a powerful and punchy mouthfeel and a nice line of bright mineral acidity draws out the finish.

Simon Waghorn, Winemaker notes (2023 Vintage)
"Focused aromas of jalapeño, nettle, lime zest, lemongrass and fresh herbs. A linear, pure wine with clean flavours of currants, gooseberry and citrus. Finishes savoury, crisp and dry.

When I put this wine together, I really try to showcase parcels of fruit that I think are uber-Awatere, expressing the essence of the Awatere region. I always blend from Awatere valley vineyards on the north and south of the river to reflect the different soil fertility and flavour these sites contribute. Even though this wine is all about the Awatere, I am trying to show the Awatere as a whole, rather than just a single vineyard site.

The clay in the soils provides a nice mouth-coating texture. It has all those cedar and tobacco notes we get in the Awatere as well as all those green spectrum flavours we get across the board. This wine is a little more mineral than my Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and a little more singular, because it’s blended from only two or three sites every year. It doesn’t have the vineyard complexity of our Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, but it has a lovely sense of place localised to the Awatere sub-region.

My Awatere Valley Sauvignon Blanc is dry and has an emphasis on aromatic herbs and fresh, green fruits, with a full and lingering mouthfeel, balanced acidity and a savoury, almost saline finish. The winemaking techniques are identical to my Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, and the differences entirely come from site selection and blending."

5 Stars Michael Cooper (2023 Vintage)
"The impressive 2023 vintage is a bright, light lemon/green, fresh, full-bodied wine. It has penetrating, ripe, citrusy, herbal flavours, showing excellent purity, delicacy and depth, balanced acidity, and a dry, persistent, finely textured finish. Best drinking mid-2024+."

5 Stars & 95/100 Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review, February 2024 (2023 Vintage)
"All sauvignon blanc is certainly not equal. Anyone who doubts the validity of that statement simply needs to taste a range of Astrolabe’s sauvignon blancs… Intense, grassy sauvignon with gooseberry, tomato leaf, wet stone and oyster shell flavours supported by assertive, mouth-tingling acidity. Distinctive and appealing wine for those who like truly dry sauvignon."

Rated Outstanding & 95/100 Cameron Douglas MS, November 2023 (2023 Vintage)
"Delicious from beginning to end, a wine with power and intensity, a core of fruits that are ripe and mouthwateringly fresh with a laser-focused acid line. Flavours of apples and white pineapple, cape gooseberry, pink grapefruit and salty air. There’s a definitive savoury quality accentuated with finer lees complexities. Lengthy, ready and not to be missed. best drinking from 2024 through 2030."