Te Tera Sauvignon Blanc comes mainly from younger vineyards (vines from 8 to 23 years of age) in Martinborough appellation of New Zealand. The ‘terroir‘ is a mix of alluvial and clay soils.
The grapes were hand harvested. After pressing the wine was cool-fermented with selected yeasts. The wine received no oak treatment whatsoever to preserve the direct expression of the fruit characters.
Nose: Quite restraint for a NZ Sauv Blanc, meaning: on the world scale of things, the aromatic intensity is still high, but subtle. It has the typical ‘buis’ (French for box tree) aroma found in French Sauv Blancs, together with slight grapefruit and white pepper notes. The nose suggests it’s a refined Sauv Blanc, not on the full-on exuberant expression.
Palate: in the mouth is where the explosion of flavors happens: intense passion fruit notes, green capsicum and plenty of herbaceous spices as well as citrus. If you think about a glass of grapefruit juice while tasting, the wine is not that far off.
There’s a honey background that glues everything together though, in a delicious aromatic sweetness. A crisp, but not offensive, acidity drives the palate, not quite matched entirely by a medium-to-light body.
A few drying and slightly sharp tannins complete the picture of a crisp and herbaceous Sauv Blanc, yet in many aspects more subtle than your average NZ SB. More European in style.
This ‘Super charged Sancerre’ wine – in style – will perfectly match fine sea food and subtle white meat dishes.
I much enjoyed the wine’s length, large array of flavors, and complexity. Definitely a distinctive case in the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, thanks to a great not-so-common depth.
Technical analysis as found on Martinborough-vineyard.co.nz
Bottling Date | 7th August, 2014 | |
Harvest Date | 5th April, 2014 | |
Harvest Analysis | Brix | 22.50 |
pH | 3.06 | |
TA | 6.95 g/L | |
Wine Analysis | Alc | 13.00% |
pH | 3.15 | |
TA | 7.00 g/L | |
RS | 3.00 g/L |
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