Isabel Estate Vineyard - Sauvignon Blanc 2006

isabel estate sauvignon blanc 2006

Vineyard
Isabel Estate: Block 5, rows 257 - 430
Block 6, rows 154 - 235
Block 9, Shelby

Variety
Sauvignon Blanc Clones: UCD 1 and 2, BDX 316 and 317, 5385

Harvest Date
1st April - 18th May 2006

Bottling Date
4th October 2006

Viticulture - Mike Newman
The winter of '05 was very mild. Budburst in the spring was around mid September - a week early - and it continued warm and dry, allowing for complete and even flowering. This summer was definitely warmer and one would have to go back to 1998 to experience a season with greater "growing degree days". At the end of January, 40 mls of rain came at the ideal time - prior to verasion. Sauvignon crops were slightly below average in bunch numbers and did not require mid summer thinning. Harvest dates arrived with no drama and all blocks were picked by hand of course, at the optimum time.

Oenology - Patricia Miranda
This was a year to "play around" with a little skin contact. As Isabel vineyard blocks are entirely picked by hand, we are able to select the very best fruit for a 'little' pre-ferment cold soak. This was always going to be a big wine due to the warmer season and out talented team in the cellar were well prepared to make the most of the more tropical fruit profile of the vintage. To retain freshness, most of the juice was cool stainless tank fermented. A portion was pressed directly into barrel in our underground cellar where slow spontaneous, fermentation and later, malolactic fermentation took place.

Tasting Note
Everything is happening on the nose here with tropical aromas exploding - like you have crashed your motorcycle into a tropical island fruit stall...! The mid palate is rich and luscious with layered complexity. It offers a viscous persistent finish with the 'classic' Isabel vineyard limestone minerality. A wine that 'feels' like pure indulgence - delicious in its youth, yet undeniable age-worthy.

Wine Analysis
Brix: 23 - 25
pH: 3.0 - 3.4
T.A.: 7.3 - 8.5

Wine Analysis
13% alcohol
6g/l titratable acidity
3.5g/l residual sugar

Download tasting notes

accolades

5 Stars "In the marketplace Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is expected to be fresh, tangy... and often quite sweet. Isabel's version of New Zealand's most famous wine is different, dry and complex with herby fruit, honeyed and minerally notes coupled to nutty complexity.
Good ideas: Goat cheese and tomato tarts
Ralph Kyte-Powell, The Age Epicure, Melbourne, Tuesday 20 March 2007

92 Points ... sweet tropical fruit tempered by a slatey, dry finish, the fragrance of it rich with pink and white flowers. This is a savvy with rich softness to it and not too much tartness, which will please many. Even I, a SB basher, could happily slug on this.
Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front, Australia, January 2007

"Pungent passionfruit and tropical, with a subtle touch of oadk. A big, in-your-face wine with flavour, character and mouthfeel." One of Huon Hooke's top wines.
"I found hints of asparagus too, which balance the ripe flavours. the palate is quite full and round, with alcohol providing some weight, and it finishes well balanced and with good length." Nick Bulleid MV
Gourmet Traveller Wine, Australia, Feb/Mar 2008

"This label has been a reliabel source of Marlborough Sauvignon for years, and the 2006 is on form, offering bold grapefruit and passion fruit aromas. Melon and fig join on the palate, underscored by a touch of grassiness. Soft, round and easy to drink, this is a summertime staple."
J.C., Wine Enthusiast Magazine, July 2007

Star Buy "Marlborough's stony, clay soil and sunny climate makes it ideal for sauvignon. This gorgeous, tropical fruit and nettle-spiked 2006 takes on the French at their own game."
Jane MacQuitty, The Times, May 2007

"A subdued, soft, funky, warm, rich style with a mealy, caramel influence, a departure from the typically high acid, tropical fruit, punchy, green-edged Marlborough savvies. There's a component of older oak and wild yeasts adding richness to the melon and stonefruit flavours and there's a wee burst of apple acidity on the slightly grainy finish."
Sue Courtney, www.wineoftheweek.co.nz, 6 July 2007