Woolpack Sauvignon Blanc

Tasting
Bright, intense floral citrus blossom jump out of the glass at you, straight away. Then comes the rich, slightly heady mix of slightly spicy and perfumed dried herbs. If that isn't enough, there's just a sniff of smokey, pithy minerality and lemongrass. Once again, our fun-loving wine is taking on a very serious edge. Right off the bat, this wine is powerful and light at the same time. How is this so? The juxtaposition of richness and freshness is so clear here, aided by the bright, succulent acidity and super-ripe citrus fruit. Add a weighty, pithy lusciousness like that on the nose and the complexity starts to really build and the finish is, simply, more of the same. This wine continues to charm and surprise.

The Vineyards
After the wettest winter since we planted our vineyard at Waverley, the cooler soil temperature resulted in a slightly delayed budburst. Spring itself was somewhat the opposite, being reasonably dry and warm, but with unusually high humidity levels. Growth was solid and healthy and, not wishing to tempt fate, we were again untroubled by frost due to Waverley’s proximity to the coast. The warm, dry, humid weather continued through early summer, resulting in a solid flowering and fruit Set. Though there was some disease pressure across the district due to the unusually high levels of humidity, Waverley remained completely clean thanks, in large part to our coastal location and our own natural fungicide – the ever-present wind. As with last year, February was unusually wet, and with that came concern about botrytis but, although March also had higher than average rainfall, Waverley remained free of disease. Often, the delay caused by a late budburst will be caught up during the season but, this year, that delay pulled right through to harvest and even extended slightly. No dramas at Waverley, though, and the fruit was delivered to the winery clean and ripe, as usual.

Winemaker
Notes Now that our youngest wine Is growing up - this Is It's third vintage - it turns out It's not really growing up at all. The 2023 Woolpack is as much carefree fun as ever. With clean, beautifully ripe fruit, it was a joy to see it arrive at the winery where I, essentially, did nothing other than take the usual care to ensure the aromatics and flavors that came in as fruit were preserved from vineyard to bottle. Minimal Intervention at its absolute best.

Food Pairing
Matches well to spicy food — Thai, Japanese, Indian, but works equally well with seafood, particularly oysters.