Lake Chalice Skye Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2021

The fruit was sourced from selected vineyard sites located in Marlborough’s Omaka, Awatere and Wairau Valleys. The Awatere Valley, with its silt loam over deep sandstone, provides more mineral flavours in the wines. The Omaka vineyard, has a slightly warmer climate by day, but cooler by night, and where the soil is more compacted and contains more clay, while the Wairau Valley is considered one of the best subregions for Sauvignon Blanc, producing wines with a heightened expression. The vines are cultivated using a sustainable approach with minimal use of vineyard sprays, open canopy management to provide good light and airflow, leaf plucking, fruit and shoot thinning and berry selection. The grapes were harvested at optimum flavour intensity before the sugar levels became too high. This allowed the production of a wine lower in alcohol but rich in flavour.

The grapes were machine harvested at cool temperatures and vinified immediately to minimise skin contact. The juice was cool fermented in stainless steel tanks with selected yeasts to retain varietal character and freshness. Fermentation was arrested to retain some residual sugar in order to give the wine a textured weight on the palate.