Mount Riley Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough NZ

At the northern tip of New Zealand's South Island, the waters of the Marlborough Sounds meet steep hills rising to the south-west. Their peaks are the Richmond Ranges, dominated by the distinctive crag of Mount Riley. Inland, the mountains look down on the stony-soiled vineyards of the Wairau Valley. From here, and other famous parts of the Marlborough region, a reputation for outstanding wines has spread around the world. Distinct regional characteristics have been celebrated and Mount Riley Wines owners John Buchanan and Steve Hotchin aim is to produce premium quality wines that are as unmistakably part of Marlborough as Mount Riley itself. Mount Riley has five vineyards, totaling 252.5 acres of the Wairau Valley and Seventeen Valley areas. The 34 acre Seventeen Valley vineyard was established 1996, and Mount Riley's pioneering nature took it to this relatively new area, five minutes south of Blenheim and away from the Wairau Valley. The Seventeen Valley Vineyard has a unique mesoclimate, with soil that is extremely stony and of low fertility. All of which make it perfect for the production of high quality, intensely flavoured Pinot Noir, Merlot, Malbec and Chardonnay. Seventeen Valley is Mount Riley's premium Chardonnay and is produced from carefully selected parcels of exceptional grapes from several vineyards throughout the Wairau valley. The winemaker has fermented this wine in French barriques carefully selecting only the finest for this wine. This Chardonnay exhibits attractive melon and tropical fruit flavours overlaid with a nutty complexity from extended lees maturation. Mouthfilling and packed with flavour it has a great finish. (6 x 75 cl)

At the northern tip of New Zealand's South Island, the waters of the Marlborough Sounds meet steep hills rising to the south-west. Their peaks are the Richmond Ranges, dominated by the distinctive crag of Mount Riley. Inland, the mountains look down on the stony-soiled vineyards of the Wairau Valley. From here, and other famous parts of the Marlborough region, a reputation for outstanding wines has spread around the world. Distinct regional characteristics have been celebrated and Mount Riley Wines owners John Buchanan and Steve Hotchin aim is to produce premium quality wines that are as unmistakably part of Marlborough as Mount Riley itself. Mount Riley has five vineyards, totaling 252.5 acres of the Wairau Valley and Seventeen Valley areas. The Mount Riley vineyard covers 50 acres and was established in 1996 and is planted predominately with Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. The vineyard used for this wine offers a magnificent view of Mount Riley and the Richmond ranges. The land is a mixture of river stones and sandy loam, lying on two north-facing terraces. Each site was chosen carefully, for its unique attributes and ability to produce grapes of outstanding quality. A long growing season with a warm Indian summer produced grapes that exhibit the pungent fruit characters which typify Marlborough. The grapes were harvested at optimum ripeness with full flavour to produce outsatnding wines. This wine is a blend of three different clones of Chardonnay including clones 15, 6 and 2/23. Cool fermentation in both new oak barriques and stainless steel was used to produce this wine. 20% of this wine was barrel fermented and then blended with the balance which was fermented in stainless steel. This wine was then allowed to go through malolactic fermentation to soften the acidity and stored on lees for 7 months. This Chardonnay has an attractive melon and tropical fruit aroma with subtle oak adding complexity. The palate has similar flavours with a creamy oak complexity, great mouth feel and hints of creaminess. (12 x 75 cl)

At the northern tip of New Zealand's South Island, the waters of the Marlborough Sounds meet steep hills rising to the south-west. Their peaks are the Richmond Ranges, dominated by the distinctive crag of Mount Riley. Inland, the mountains look down on the stony-soiled vineyards of the Wairau Valley. From here, and other famous parts of the Marlborough region, a reputation for outstanding wines has spread around the world. Distinct regional characteristics have been celebrated and Mount Riley Wines owners John Buchanan and Steve Hotchin aim is to produce premium quality wines that are as unmistakably part of Marlborough as Mount Riley itself. Mount Riley has five vineyards, totaling 252.5 acres of the Wairau Valley and Seventeen Valley areas.This wine is a blend of Merlot and Malbec from our Seventeen Valley Vineyard as well as a little Cabernet from the Wairau Valley. An excellent growing season has produced fully ripe fruit of outstanding quality. The wine was aged in French and American Oak barriques for eight months and has produced a full bodied complex wine, full of lovely berry fruit with balanced oak characters. (12 x 75 cl)

At the northern tip of New Zealand's South Island, the waters of the Marlborough Sounds meet steep hills rising to the south-west. Their peaks are the Richmond Ranges, dominated by the distinctive crag of Mount Riley. Inland, the mountains look down on the stony-soiled vineyards of the Wairau Valley. From here, and other famous parts of the Marlborough region, a reputation for outstanding wines has spread around the world. Distinct regional characteristics have been celebrated and Mount Riley Wines owners John Buchanan and Steve Hotchin aim is to produce premium quality wines that are as unmistakably part of Marlborough as Mount Riley itself. Mount Riley has five vineyards, totaling 252.5 acres of the Wairau Valley and Seventeen Valley areas. The Pinot Noir grapes for this wine were sourced from vineyards in the Wairau Valleys and Seventeen Valley in Marlborough together with some fruit from Nelson. The grapes encompass a variety of clones with UCDS, 10/S and a mixture of Dijon clones. The 2003 growing season was affected in Marlborough by frost so the yields were extremely low.The grapes were harvested in excellent condition and were fully ripe. The wine was fermented on skins, with a portion being hand plunged in the traditional way in small fermenters with the balance being carefully pumped over to facilitate colour extraction. The wine was then aged in French and American oak for eight months. This Pinot Noir has ripe berry aromas with a hint of smokey oak. On the palate the wine is soft and mouth filling with supple integrated tannins, medium bodied with a long lingering finish. (12 x 75 cl)

A fabulous Sauvignon Blanc that explodes from the glass with exquisitely ripe gooseberries. Expansive and boldly-flavored, this medium-bodied, silky-textured effort is resplendent in layers of pink grapefruit, gooseberries, and spices. It has terrific mouth-feel and a long fruit-filled finish. (6 x 75 cl)

This wine shows lifted tropical fruit, melon and citrus notes. The palate exhibits the same fine fruit flavours with an underlying flinty note typical of Awatere Valley fruit. The finish is crisp and dry.The fruit for the Vavasour Sauvignon Blanc was har (12 x 75 cl)

Mount Rozier Estate MOUNT ROZIER Sauvignon Blanc Stellenbosch RSA from South Africa, Stellenbosch by Mount Rozier Estate Somerset West (6 x 75 cl)

Colour (12 x 75 cl)

Redwood Pass Sauvignon Blanc is a pale straw colour. On the nose it shows ripe passionfruit , guava and fragrant citrus notes, balanced by a great mineral acidity. The palate is full flavoured ripe melon and lime with lingering gooseberry flavours. 50% (6 x 75 cl)