Villa Maria Single Vineyard Taylors Pass Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2023

Description

Dry, Herbal, Lemon

The 2023 Single Vineyard Taylors Pass Sauvignon Blanc displays bright and intense aromas of new season blackcurrants and snow peas mingling with lime zest, freshly cut sage and coriander. The palate reveals flavours of jalapeño and lemongrass, with a persistent and salivating, salty finish capturing notes of white peach and basil. Moorish fresh acidity completes this wine. A key point of interest in this wine is the chalky texture reminiscent of wet river stones.

The Taylors Pass Vineyard is located on the northern bank of the Awatere River in southern Marlborough. The average vine age is between 15–20 years old. Sheltered from prevailing cool easterly winds, each terrace of the vineyard has varying soil types, stony gravels are nearest the river, whereas the mid-terrace has silt over gravels and the highest terrace is deeper silt over clay-papa base. This patchwork of soil types provides the vineyard with dramatically variable ripening patterns.

The Marlborough growing season started off well with very little frost pressure during spring. The growing season provided us with healthy soil moisture levels, with vine canopies lush and vibrant. The start of 2023 summer was mild; February was below the long-term average in temperature. This resulted in thick grape skins that provided us ample flavour. The weather settled over harvest and delivered a beautiful, dry and warm Indian summer.