Jules Taylor Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2024

Description

Dry, Gooseberry, Guava

"Offering terrific fruit purity and power, the wine shows kiwifruit, feijoa, crunchy apple and jasmine aromas on the nose. The palate delivers excellent weight and fruit intensity, wonderfully supported by saline texture and bright acidity, finishing impressively long and satisfying. At its best: now to 2028" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Oct 2024

"There’s no mistaking the varietal complexity, lift and urgent scents of this Jules Taylor example. Aromas and flavours of fresh grapefruit and red apple, there’s a touch of lime then angelica, some white pineapple and floral spice qualities. On the palate the flavours mirror the bouquet with equal intensity and power, plenty of acidity and super fine fruit tannins. Well made, lengthy and rather delicious. Best drinking from 2025 through 2028+" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, Nov 2024

"An elegant and detailed expression of sauvignon, the airy floral aromas weave between grapefruit, ripe apple and sweet herb notes on this rather complex creature. The dry palate has fine phenolic grip, giving a sense of chalkiness and restraint to the otherwise perfumed flavours. Although approachable already, this has the depth and complexity to warrant keeping for a year or two as more unfolds" Stephen Wong, The Real Review, Feb 2025

Very pale yellow. Explosive aromas of passionfruit, ruby red grapefruit, and juicy white peach jump out of the glass, followed by hints of fresh lemongrass. This in-your-face drop captures the essence of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. Ripe, exuberant citrus and passionfruit flavours combine with  fresh lemongrass. The palate is dry, complex, and powerful, giving way to a concentrated, salivating finish.

A strong El Nino weather pattern dominated in 2024, causing strong westerly winds and warm, very dry conditions down NZ’s east coast. Vine growth began later than previous years and a couple of very cold nights in early October caused a touch of frost damage in the Southern Valleys. Flowering was relatively poor, and it quickly became clear that the harvest would be much smaller than 2022 or 2023. Warm weather began in mid-December and continued right through to March, causing one of the shortest ripening periods on record. However clear, cold nights retained fruit acidity during ripening. Harvest was short and sharp. Our first pick was Pinot Gris on the 8th March. The first Sauvignon Blanc was from young vines on the 11th March and the last block of Sauvignon from the Upper Awatere was picked on 31st March. All the 2024 fruit was packed with flavour and absolutely no sign of disease due to the amazing growing conditions. It was an ideal vintage!

The fruit for this wine was grown in the Taylor Pass, Lower Wairau, Hawkesbury and Awatere sub-regions of Marlborough, avoiding the main Wairau Valley floor sites. Each block was individually tended throughout the season, ensuring grapes reached optimum ripeness. With a dedicated harvesting crew on hand we were able to harvest each block individually once the fruit was ripe and the flavours were perfect. At the winery the grapes were pressed into stainless steel tanks for cold settling before gently racking off juice lees. The juice was inoculated with aromatic yeasts and gently fermented at cool temperatures to enhance the wine’s aromas and flavours. It was then left to settle on its yeast lees for a very short period before being racked. Then came the best part; each batch was tasted, and the final blend created! The resulting wine was then cold stabilised, filtered, bottled, and sealed with a screwcap to ensure perfect freshness.

Food Pairing: Try it alongside casual fresh so urdough dunked in good quality olive oil and plenty of dukkah, or for a main course try crispy skinned snapper fillet with warm puy lentils and a herby lemon sauce.