Fairbourne Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2013

Download Printable Tasting Notes with Reviews

WINE STYLE:

A premium, elegant and hand-picked Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. Supple across the palate with a generous mouth-feel, the vibrant and expressive fruit flavours lead to a smooth dry finish. Fairbourne is terroir inspired from a single hillside vineyard. Enjoy now or allow the complex layers to mature gracefully.

DESCRIPTION:

Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Region: Marlborough
Vintage: 2013
Volume: 750ml

TECHNICAL:

Alcohol: 13.5% Vol.
Acidity: 7.6 g/L
Sugars: 1.3 g/L
Closure: Stelvin Lux Screwcap

SENSORY:

Aroma: Fresh ripe citrus and nectarine with alluvial river stone.
Taste: Smooth citrus entry, an ascending concentration of ripe white stone fruits.
Finish: Dry with persistent generous flavours. You will want more.
Serve: Chill to between 14 and 16°C (52 and 61°F) then serve and enjoy.
Store: Store between 10 and 16°C (50 and 61°F).

CUISINE:

Fresh oysters and steamed mussels are a natural accompaniment for New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and this wine is no exception. Salmon pairs well with Fairbourne, as does a fresh, citrus drizzled salad with asparagus and feta. An easy drinking wine, compatible with fresh and fragrantly spiced cuisine.

VITICULTURE:

The grapes for Fairbourne are grown on a single north facing hillside vineyard of Marlborough’s Wairau Valley. The soils are with ancient alluvial and clay gravels of lower fertility giving lighter yields with very distinctive flavours. The hand-picked grapes produce ripe citrus and stone fruit nuances with a “wet stone” mineral character from the soils.

WINEMAKING:

Restraint is the key influence of the Fairbourne winemaking philosophy. Grapes are fermented as site batches with neutral yeast to capture their individual fruit and site expressions. Fermentation is managed in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks over a four week period. The batches are carefully blended, including a small portion barrel fermented in new French oak, to create a silky entry, generously ascending across the palate with a supple texture and dry finish.

[tipsy content='Raymond Chan 25th November 2015 18.5 / 5★
Bright, pale straw-yellow colour with slight green hues, near colourless on the rim. The bouquet is very elegant and tightly bound with refined aromas of white and green stonefruits, white florals and nuances of piquant herbs. This has a concentrated core to the aromatics that unveil suggestions of secondary green beans with cut grass and waxy, lanolin Semillon-like complexity. Dry to taste and medium-full bodied, the palate is well-proportioned showing bright and delicately sweet fruit flavours of limes, green stonefruits, gooseberries, white florals and herbs. A subtle layer of waxy lanolin unfolds adding interest and hints of unctuousness. The mouthfeel is balanced by fresh, lacy acidity that provides drive and vibrant linearity. Fine-textured phenolics carry the wine to a long, lingering finish of stonefruits, herbs and waxy notes. This is a tightly concentrated, refined Sauvignon Blanc with stonefruit, floral and herb finesse. ' group="0" ]Raymond Chan 18.5 / 5★ [/tipsy]
[tipsy content='Bob Campbell 95 / 5★
Hand-picked grapes from north-facing hillside vineyard. 4% of the wine was oak-fermented to add texture and complexity.
The result is a weighty, complex Sauvignon Blanc with concentrated lemon grass, mineral and subtle gooseberry flavours. Tight and powerful wine that gives a nod in the direction of Sancerre. Reviewed in a vertical tasting back to the first vintage in 2008, this wine clearly shows excellent potential for bottle development.' group="0" ]Bob Campbell 95 / 5★[/tipsy]
[tipsy content='Wine Orbit 94 / 5★
A stylish expression of the variety, the elegantly fragrant bouquet shows grapefruit and white peach with subtle infusion of herbs and floral. It is concentrated and focused on the palate with fine texture and superb mid palate weight, leading to an impressively long, silky finish. Wonderful fruit intensity backed by rich mouthfeel and perfectly pitched acidity. At its best from now to 2018. ' group="0" ]Wine Orbit 94 / 5★[/tipsy]
[tipsy content='Raymond Chan 18.5 / 5★
Hand-picked fruit from the ‘Skyedale’ vineyard in the Southern Valleys, cool-fermented in stainless-steel to 13.5% alc. and 1.3 g/L RS, the wine aged 6-7 months on lees, with a small portion in seasoned oak. Bright, very pale straw-yellow colour with slight green hues, near colourless on rim. This has a very refined, tight and elegantly presented nose with delicacy of detail, revealing pure white stonefruits, florals and herbs, subtle gooseberry fruit and thirst-quenching minerally notes. Dry to taste and medium-bodied, the flavours combine refinement, delicacy and subtle detail, showing gooseberry fruit, minerals and herbs. The acidity is soft and ripe, lending tension and poise to the mouthfeel, and the flavours flow with energy. Very fine phenolics guide the palate to a mouthwatering, sustained finish. This is a refined and subtle Sauvignon Blanc with finesse and delicate mouthwatering detail. ' group="0" ]Raymond Chan 18.5 / 5★[/tipsy]
[tipsy content='Gourmet Wine Traveller 96 / 5★
Four per cent of the wine was oak fermented to add texture and complexity. The result is a weighty, complex sauvignon blanc with concentrated lemon grass, mineral and subtle gooseberry flavours. A tight and powerful wine.' group="0" ]Gourmet Wine Traveller 96 / 5★[/tipsy]
[tipsy content='Michael Cooper 4 1/2★
From elevated, north-facing slopes in the Wairau Valley, the 2013 vintage (4 1/2*) was hand-harvested and fermented mostly in tanks to full dryness (4 per cent of the blend was fermented in large oak barrels). It is mouthfilling, with ripe, citrusy, rather than herbaceous, flavours to the fore, in a vibrantly fruity, tightly structured style. An elegant, youthful wine, slightly minerally and finely poised, it should be at its best mid-2015+. In a complete vertical tasting of the 2008 to 2013 vintages, staged in February 2014, the older wines were still lively and offering a lot of pleasure, but the stars were the fleshy, sweet-fruited, finely textured 2011 (5*), delicious now, and the highly aromatic, slightly more herbacecous, tight and minerally 2012 (4 1/2*).' group="0" ]Michael Cooper 4 1/2★[/tipsy]
[tipsy content='Joelle Thomson
Wines of the Week. Your Weekend magazine in The Dominion Post, The Christchurch Press and The Waikato Times. Smooth and subtle, showing that a little oak goes a long way in a full bodied sauvignon blanc from a sundrenched north facing vineyard in the Wairau Valley, Marlborough.' group="0" ]Joelle Thomson[/tipsy]
[tipsy content='Jo Burzynska
Viva Magazine, 24th April 2015. While the majority Sauvignons are best enjoyed in the first year of their release, the best can look great with a few years in bottle, such as this stunning example from the 2013 vintage. It’s fine and linear, with tones of green herb wrapped around a taut citrus and mineral core, which should likely be looking for good for some years yet.' group="0" ]Jo Burzynska[/tipsy]