Cellar Release of this Iconic wine
A fuller bodied, textural style of Sauvignon Blanc. This single vineyard parcel is situated within the Dog Point Vineyard, using the same low cropping level from vines planted in 1992. Fruit is hand-picked, whole bunch pressed and fermented and aged in older French oak barrels for 18 months. Bottled without fining.
Winery notes (2017 Vintage)
"A more restrained Section 94 resulting from earlier harvest dates. Fresh lemon and oatmeal aromas upfront leading to toasty and biscuit notes. In the background, aromas of honey, citrus blossoms and jasmine flowers linger. Fresh and brisk across the palate, the wine is youthful and energetic upfront before the complexities and rounded textures of extended barrel maturation present themselves. The finish is complex, with citrus, saline and toasty flavours lingering.
Hand picked and gently pressed to tank for 24 hours of settling prior to eighteen months fermentation and aging in older French Oak barrels. 100% natural ferment. Bottled without fining and only minimal filtration."
5 Stars Michael Cooper, October 2022 (2017 Vintage)
"This ranks among the country's greatest oak-aged Sauvignon Blancs. Looking for 'texture, rather than rich aromatics', Dog Point fermented and lees-aged the 2017 vintage, released in 2022, for 18 months in seasoned French oak casks. Hand-harvested in the Dog Point Vineyard (for which 'Section 94' was the original survey title), at the confluence of the Brancott and Omaka valleys, and fermented with indigenous yeasts, it is bright, light yellow/green, with a fragrant, complex bouquet. Still unfolding, it is mouthfilling and vigorous, with a powerful surge of ripely herbaceous flavours, crisp, dry and tightly structured. Best drinking 2024+. Certified organic."
96/100 JamesSuckling.com (2017 Vintage)
"This is a very tight, complex and concentrated sauvignon with flint, grilled-lemon and struck-match aromas, as well as passion-fruit pastry. The palate has a smooth textural build with pastry-like texture and flavours of peaches, lemons and mangoes that hold long. Drink now. Screw cap."
94+/100 Gary Walsh, The Wine Front, January 2023 (2017 Vintage)
"Section 94 is kind of a ‘what can Sauvignon Blanc do’ sort of wine. Spicy oak, cinnamon and clove, gently smoked green peppers, lime and guava, fresh pineapple. It’s complex, weighty, lime zest and almond meal, a whole lot of layers, Jalapeño and nectarine, plenty of dry flinty extract, lime zest and passionfruit on a finish of hazelnuts, tonic and sweet lime. So engaging and interesting. Terrific wine."
17.5/20 JancisRobinson.com, February 2023 (2017 Vintage)
"Sauvignon Blanc from one specific site of 30-year-old vines. Just a few thousand cases. Whole-bunch pressing. They have just started to drink the 2011 vintage of this. Now they rack the wine off the bottom layer of 'mud basically'. Ambient-yeast ferment. Total 60 ppm SO2. Racked into old oak, mainly eight years old, where it stays for 18 months. François Frères barrels. Needs even more than 12 months in bottle. Matt Sutherland explained they kept this particular vintage back because it was so slow to develop – so at six years old this is a current release! Lots of struck-match character. Amazingly burgundian high acidity. 'Austere Meursault' structure. Great stuff."